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Harold Varner III goes in wrong direction on moving day at 2022 Masters
Harold Varner III moved in the wrong direction on moving day at the 2022 Masters Tournament.
After posting consecutive red-figure rounds to put himself in contention for the green jacket at the 86th Masters, Varner fell from sixth to 36th by Saturday evening at Augusta National.
The Gastonia native carded nine bogeys in the third round to finish 15 shots back of 54-hole leader Scottie Scheffler. Over the first two days of the tournament, Varner combined for only eight bogeys.
“It was pretty hard, especially from where I hit it,” said Varner, who hit just five greens in regulation. “It was just tough, and it got the best of me today, for sure.”
Varner’s round was bookended by back-to-back bogeys as he went from 2-under par to 6 over. A trio of bogeys through Amen Corner served as the toughest stretch of Varner’s tough day in blustery winds and cold temperatures.
“Everything you can think of,” he added. “The greens were a little faster, and I just put myself in places where I just couldn't score, especially off the tee.”
The 31-year-old East Carolina alum spent much of his day hitting out of the pine straw as he hit only 9 of 14 fairways. When asked if getting off the tee was his biggest problem, Varner said “Yeah, for sure.”
“It was just rough,” he added. “It is what it is.”
Five strokes shy of the top 10, Varner still has plenty to play for in Sunday's final round. The top 12 players and ties earn an invite to play in the 2023 Masters.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com.
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https://www.gastongazette.com/story/sports/2022/04/09/harold-varner-iii-has-rough-saturday-2022-masters-tournament/9526159002/
| 2022-04-10T13:37:51
| 0
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https://www.gastongazette.com/story/sports/2022/04/09/harold-varner-iii-has-rough-saturday-2022-masters-tournament/9526159002/
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https://www.gastongazette.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gastongazette.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2022%2F04%2F10%2Fgaston-county-nc-female-pastor-shatters-glass-ceiling-dr-kimberly-moore%2F9482076002%2F
| 2022-04-10T13:41:19
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https://www.gastongazette.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gastongazette.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2022%2F04%2F10%2Fgaston-county-nc-female-pastor-shatters-glass-ceiling-dr-kimberly-moore%2F9482076002%2F
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It was the slap heard ‘round the world when actor Will Smith assaulted comedian Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards. The move was so unexpected that many thought it part of the comedy routine.
But it soon became apparent the act was more spontaneous, especially after Smith returned to his seat spewing profanities.
The incident reminded me the first time I can remember being threatened with assault. His name was Pete — the neighborhood bully. He accosted me one day when my sister and I walked home from grammar school.
He called me names and said the next time he found me on the streets he was going to beat me up. Pete was older and in a higher grade than me. What I took to be his sister was with him acquiescing to his bullying. I was afraid.
This incident brought a serious talk with my older brother.
He told me you can’t let people push you around like this. I remember he quoted Franklin Roosevelt who said the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. I think this may’ve been the seminal moment of my later love for presidential history!
I don’t remember seeing Pete again. We moved to another community shortly thereafter when the state of Alabama bought neighborhood property to build an interstate. But I’ve thought about how I’d like to meet Pete again. I viewed enough “Walker Texas Ranger” that I think I could perform a spinning back kick!
But isn’t a Christian supposed to “turn the other cheek”? Yes, Jesus’s words are clear. His point is about how we treat those who do evil to us. Rather than responding in kind, we do good, say good and pray. We return good for evil rather than perpetuating evil, we bless them with healing words and we pray for them. This is the high standard he gave.
But on the other hand, we’ve learned in recent years about boundaries. We cannot let evil people continue to hurt others in person or in social media. Abusers have to be stopped, and those who disrupt the lives of their families though addictions must be forced to face sobering reality.
The Apostle Paul was about to be beaten when he told the Roman soldiers they couldn’t do this since he had citizenship in the empire (Acts 22:25). He very appropriately enforced boundaries to protect himself in that instance.
It’s never appropriate for bullies to take advantage of the defenseless. People of good will must stand with the weak, protect them and declare to the bullies that this conduct won’t be tolerated.
Reflections is a weekly devotional feature written by Michael J. Brooks, pastor of the Siluria Baptist Church in Alabaster. The church’s website is siluriabaptist.com.
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https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/free/pastor-michael-j-brooks-on-turning-the-other-cheek/article_0c43095e-b758-11ec-9c63-0b5425e854ee.html
| 2022-04-10T13:44:29
| 0
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https://www.annistonstar.com/the_daily_home/free/pastor-michael-j-brooks-on-turning-the-other-cheek/article_0c43095e-b758-11ec-9c63-0b5425e854ee.html
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BA.2 is the dominant COVID-19 variant in the US. Here's what's known about it
In the latest battle of the coronavirus mutants, an extra-contagious version of omicron has taken over the world.
The coronavirus version known as BA.2 is now dominant in at least 68 countries, including the United States.
The World Health Organization says it makes up about 94% of sequenced omicron cases submitted to an international coronavirus database in the most recent week.
Dr. Wesley Long, a pathologist at Houston Methodist in Texas, said he’s seen BA.2 quickly become dominant in his medical system.
“It’s not terribly surprising because it is more contagious” than the original omicron, Long said.
As the variant advances, scientists are learning more about it. But they still don’t know exactly how it will affect the trajectory of the pandemic.
WHAT’S KNOWN
BA.2 has lots of mutations. It’s been dubbed “stealth omicron” because it lacks a genetic quirk of the original omicron that allowed health officials to rapidly differentiate it from the delta variant using a certain PCR test.
One reason BA.2 has gained ground, scientists say, is that it’s about 30% more contagious than the original omicron. In rare cases, research shows it can sicken people even if they’ve already had an omicron infection — although it doesn’t seem to cause more severe disease.
Vaccines appear equally effective against both types of omicron. For both, vaccination plus a booster offers strong protection against severe illness and death.
HAS THE VARIANT PUSHED UP CASES?
Coronavirus cases rose in parts of Europe and Asia when BA.2 became dominant, and some scientists are concerned that the variant could also push up cases across the U.S.
Besides being more contagious, it’s spreading at a time when governments are relaxing restrictions designed to control COVID-19. Also, people are taking off their masks and getting back to activities such as traveling, eating indoors at restaurants and attending crowded events.
At this point, overall coronavirus cases in the U.S. are still on the decline. But there have been upticks in some places, including New York, Arizona and Illinois. Health officials have also noted that case counts are getting more unreliable because of the wide availability of home tests and the fact some people are no longer getting tested.
“We’re entering a phase where increasing cases or waves may be very regional and it may depend a lot on vaccination levels in the community — and not just vaccination levels but timing of the vaccinations,” Long said. “How long ago were they? Did people get boosters? Because we know the immunity to the vaccine wanes a little bit over time.”
Long said he feels “very certain” that cases will eventually go back up in the U.S., whether that's because of BA.2 or some future variant. “If it’s BA.2,” he said, “it may be more of a wave or a speed bump than a surge.”
For now, COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are still trending down nationally.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER VARIANTS TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT?
As the coronavirus continues to evolve, the WHO is tracking other mutants, including hybrids known as “recombinants."
These include combinations of delta and omicron and hybrids of BA.2 and the original omicron, also known as BA.1.
One recombinant that health authorities are tracking closely is a BA.1-BA.2 hybrid called XE, which was first detected in the United Kingdom in January. About 600 cases have been reported, and scientists believe it may be about 10% more contagious than BA.2.
WHAT SHOULD PEOPLE DO?
The advice from experts remains the same: Take precautions to avoid getting COVID-19.
“The virus is still out there circulating,” Long said. “Vaccination is still your best defense.”
Get the shots if you haven't already, he said, and get the second booster if you’re eligible because you are 50 or older or have a compromised immune system.
“If cases start going up in your community, think about assessing your risk level,” Long said. “If you stopped masking and stopped worrying about distancing and things ... that’s the time to reinstitute those protective measures.”
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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https://www.koat.com/article/ba2-is-the-dominant-covid-19-variant-in-the-us-whats-known-about-it/39683069
| 2022-04-10T13:49:12
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https://www.koat.com/article/ba2-is-the-dominant-covid-19-variant-in-the-us-whats-known-about-it/39683069
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Missing Wisconsin toddler found safe
Published: Apr. 10, 2022 at 9:48 AM EDT|Updated: 20 minutes ago
WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW/Gray News) - The Milwaukee Police Department has cancelled an Amber Alert for 3-year-old Musyc Hart, WSAW reported.
The missing toddler was found safe.
Copyright 2022 WSAW via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/10/amber-alert-issued-milwaukee-toddler-believed-be-danger/
| 2022-04-10T14:10:38
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https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/10/amber-alert-issued-milwaukee-toddler-believed-be-danger/
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Fishermen rescue teens who were swept out to sea
MOSS LANDING, Calif. (KSBW) - Two 16-year-olds are safe after a terrifying ordeal off the coast of California when they got swept up by a riptide while swimming in the ocean.
It was three fishermen returning to Moss Landing, Calif., after a day of salmon fishing who very well may have saved the young swimmers from drowning.
“Thank God we were there because there was nobody behind us and there were no boats coming out. It would’ve taken them at least half an hour to get there and in that water, you can’t last 10 minutes,” boat captain Mike Arujo said.
Lifeguards say the teens were swept out by a rip current and in the water for nearly 30 minutes.
The water temperature was 53 degrees and hypothermia was setting in when they were rescued.
“I grabbed the first girl and helped her up. She was so cold... and she just collapsed on the deck,” Arujo said.
The fishermen say they may have never come across the girls had they not decided to stay in the water longer to catch a sixth salmon and limit out.
THey finally caught the big fish and came across those girls at just the right time.
“It was a close call for those girls, and they didn’t have a whole lot longer. I mean neither one of them could stand up when they got on the boat, and the one young lady said she couldn’t feel her legs,” fisherman Bill Weilbacher said. “They didn’t have a lot of time left so everything worked out as well as it possibly could have and the stars were really aligned for them.”
The girls were checked by paramedics at the harbor and released to their parents.
Copyright 2022 KSBW via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/10/fishermen-rescue-teens-who-were-swept-out-sea/
| 2022-04-10T14:10:45
| 0
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https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/10/fishermen-rescue-teens-who-were-swept-out-sea/
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LONDON (AP) — British author Jack Higgins, who wrote “The Eagle Has Landed” and other bestselling thrillers and espionage novels, has died. He was 92.
Publisher HarperCollins said that Higgins died at his home on the English Channel island of Jersey surrounded by his family.
Born Henry Patterson in in Newcastle, England, in July 1929, Higgins served in the military before studying sociology at the London School of Economics. He became a teacher in the northern city of Leeds and a writer in his spare time, with novels that sold modestly starting in the late 1950s.
That changed with the 1975 publication of “The Eagle Has Landed,” about a fictional World War II plot to kidnap British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In a 2010 interview with The Guardian, Higgins recounted a pivotal call from his accountant.
“He asked me what I wanted to get out of my writing,” Higgins said. “I replied that I wasn’t really sure, before adding as a joke it would be nice to make a million by the time I retired. He then said: ‘Well you’re a bloody fool. Because you’ve just earned that much this week. So what are you going to do about it?’”
He was advised to leave England because of 1970s taxation rates and settled with his family on Jersey.
“The Eagle Has Landed” became more popular after the 1976 film adaptation was released. Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall were among the stars of the eponymously named movie that was a box office success.
In a statement, HarperCollins chief executive Charlie Redmayne said Higgins’ death marked “the end of an era.”
“I’ve been a fan of Jack Higgins for longer than I can remember. He was a classic thriller writer: instinctive, tough, relentless,” he said.
“The Eagle Has Landed and his other Liam Devlin books, his later Sean Dillon series, and so many others were and remain absolutely unputdownable.”
Patterson wrote nearly 80 books, most under the pseudonym of Jack Higgins. Other Higgins titles included “The Eagle Has Flown,” “Angel of Death,” ”Day of Reckoning,” and “A Darker Place.”
According to his publisher’s website, the novels have sold more than 250 million copies and been translated into dozens of languages.
His survivors include his wife, Denise, and four children from his previous marriage.
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https://www.wfla.com/entertainment-news/the-eagle-has-landed-author-jack-higgins-dead-at-92/
| 2022-04-10T14:12:12
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https://www.wfla.com/entertainment-news/the-eagle-has-landed-author-jack-higgins-dead-at-92/
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SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A five-alarm structure fire has broken out at a Home Depot in San Jose on Saturday afternoon, according to a tweet by fire officials sent out at 6:11 p.m. The San Jose Fire Department said there are no injuries reported at this time.
Officials are advising residents to avoid the area of the fire located on the 900 block of Blossom Hill Road. That’s where large black smoke in the area of the Home Depot can be seen, according to a tweet from Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department.
Video was sent in from a viewer who was outside of the Home Depot at the time of the fire.
Wagly Veterinary Hospital and Pet Campus has been evacuated, which is right next to the Home Depot. Anyone looking to reunite with pets should head to Golfland on Winfield, firefighters tweeted.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. The smoke is expected to be coming out of the building for “quite a while,” according to fire officials.
For those who live or work in the area of the fire on Blossom Hill Road and smell smoke, the San Jose Fire Department recommends they shelter in place. They are advised to close all doors and windows to minimize smoke from getting inside.
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https://www.wfla.com/news/national/5-alarm-structure-fire-breaks-out-at-home-depot/
| 2022-04-10T14:12:20
| 1
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https://www.wfla.com/news/national/5-alarm-structure-fire-breaks-out-at-home-depot/
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — St. Petersburg police investigated a man’s death early Sunday morning after finding him on Melrose Avenue, according to a release.
The St. Petersburg Police Department said officers responded to the scene at 7:15 a.m. after getting a call about a bleeding man on Melrose, just west of Dr. MLK Street South.
The victim was already dead by the time officers arrived, according to police.
His death is being investigated as a suspicious death. At this time, police have not identified the victim or what killed him.
As of this report, Melrose Avenue South was closed between Dr. MLK Street South and 11th Street South as officers processed the scene.
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https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/dead-man-found-on-st-pete-road/
| 2022-04-10T14:12:26
| 0
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https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/dead-man-found-on-st-pete-road/
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Missing Wisconsin toddler found safe
Published: Apr. 10, 2022 at 9:48 AM EDT|Updated: 25 minutes ago
WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW/Gray News) - The Milwaukee Police Department has cancelled an Amber Alert for 3-year-old Musyc Hart, WSAW reported.
The missing toddler was found safe.
Copyright 2022 WSAW via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
|
https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/10/amber-alert-issued-milwaukee-toddler-believed-be-danger/
| 2022-04-10T14:14:44
| 1
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https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/10/amber-alert-issued-milwaukee-toddler-believed-be-danger/
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Fishermen rescue teens who were swept out to sea
MOSS LANDING, Calif. (KSBW) - Two 16-year-olds are safe after a terrifying ordeal off the coast of California when they got swept up by a riptide while swimming in the ocean.
It was three fishermen returning to Moss Landing, Calif., after a day of salmon fishing who very well may have saved the young swimmers from drowning.
“Thank God we were there because there was nobody behind us and there were no boats coming out. It would’ve taken them at least half an hour to get there and in that water, you can’t last 10 minutes,” boat captain Mike Arujo said.
Lifeguards say the teens were swept out by a rip current and in the water for nearly 30 minutes.
The water temperature was 53 degrees and hypothermia was setting in when they were rescued.
“I grabbed the first girl and helped her up. She was so cold... and she just collapsed on the deck,” Arujo said.
The fishermen say they may have never come across the girls had they not decided to stay in the water longer to catch a sixth salmon and limit out.
THey finally caught the big fish and came across those girls at just the right time.
“It was a close call for those girls, and they didn’t have a whole lot longer. I mean neither one of them could stand up when they got on the boat, and the one young lady said she couldn’t feel her legs,” fisherman Bill Weilbacher said. “They didn’t have a lot of time left so everything worked out as well as it possibly could have and the stars were really aligned for them.”
The girls were checked by paramedics at the harbor and released to their parents.
Copyright 2022 KSBW via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/10/fishermen-rescue-teens-who-were-swept-out-sea/
| 2022-04-10T14:14:44
| 1
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https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/10/fishermen-rescue-teens-who-were-swept-out-sea/
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nyc-family-mourns-loss-of-16-year-old-daughter/3639063/
| 2022-04-10T14:18:57
| 0
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nyc-family-mourns-loss-of-16-year-old-daughter/3639063/
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Days before Poland’s Independence Day in November, vandals painted the blue-and-yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag on monuments in Krakow. The vandalism, which took place as Russia massed troops near Ukraine’s border, looked as if Ukrainians were defacing memorials to Polish national heroes.
Yet some clues suggested otherwise.
The flag's colors were reversed, with the yellow on top of the blue and one offensive message was in an unnatural mix of Russian and Ukrainian. Though prosecutors are still investigating, Polish and Ukrainian authorities believe it was most likely a Russian-inspired attempt to trigger ethnic hostility between Ukrainians and Poles.
Polish and Ukrainian authorities have for years accused Russia of trying to provoke hostility between their neighboring nations as part of a broader effort to divide and destabilize the West — and the concerns have gained greater urgency since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Poland and Ukraine are neighbors and allies but they share a difficult history of oppression and bloodshed, and those historical traumas sometimes rise to the surface.
Poland has also accepted large numbers of Ukrainian refugees, creating fears that could become another wedge issue that Russia could exploit.
“The Russian efforts to sow divisions between the Poles and Ukrainians, particularly by means of exploiting historical issues, are as old as time,” said Stanislaw Zaryn, the spokesman for Poland’s security services.
“Russia has redoubled them since the war began,” he said. “And they are more dangerous now because the war is going on and it can affect more people than before."
Reacting to the November incident, the Ukrainian Embassy in Warsaw immediately denounced it as “shameful” and “a provocation aimed at harming the good neighborly relations between Ukraine and Poland.”
More than 2.5 million Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Poland since the war began, and while some move on to other countries more than half have remained. Poles have reacted with an outpouring of help and goodwill and the government has extended to the Ukrainians the same rights to education and health care that Poles have.
Never Again, an anti-racism association in Poland, has documented several attempts to stoke aversion to the Ukrainian refugees and even to openly justify Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. In some cases those behind the messages are far-right Polish activists or politicians with pro-Kremlin views, according to a report the organization published Thursday.
“These groups do not enjoy widespread public support, but they do their best to make Poles and Ukrainians quarrel, spread hateful content, conspiracy theories and false information, primarily in the internet space,” it said.
Larysa Lacko, an expert on countering disinformation at NATO, said Russia is known to exploit refugees as a wedge issue because it touches on the economy, race and other sensitive issues, and that she has also observed Russian “disinformation talking about historical grievances.”
Western Ukraine was once under Polish rule, with Ukrainians largely subservient to a Polish landowning class.
Resentments erupted in ethnic bloodshed during World War II, when the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a nationalist military formation, slaughtered tens of thousands of Poles in the Nazi-occupied Polish regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia.
Poland also has a difficult history with Moscow. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union carved up Poland at the start of World War II in 1939, invading and occupying the country based on a secret clause in the notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Poles suffered atrocities inflicted by both occupying states. The Nazis set up death camps and concentration camps where they murdered Jews and they killed many other Polish citizens as well. Meanwhile, the Soviets sent some Poles to Siberia and murdered 22,000 Polish officers in the Katyn massacres of 1940.
Even after the war, Poland was forced to live under Moscow's oppressive control for the decades of the Cold War.
It still stings Poles to remember the Soviet Union denied the truth of the Katyn killings for decades, forbidding Poles from publicly commemorating the victims. When the Polish wartime government-in-exile asked the International Red Cross to investigate the Nazi disclosures of the Soviet crimes, Moscow smeared the Polish leaders as “Fascist collaborators” — much as they have falsely accused Ukraine today of being a Nazi state.
Some Poles, especially those who lived through the war, remember those times and carry a lingering hostility to both Russians and Ukrainians.
One false claim Polish authorities say Russians are spreading is that Poland seeks to reclaim Lviv and other territory in western Ukraine that once was Polish. “Those claims are untrue,” the Polish Foreign Ministry said in a series of tweets seeking to debunk false claims. “Poland will never accept the annexation of any territory belonging to an independent state.”
Another is that Poland, a NATO ally hosting thousands of U.S. troops, is working to set the West against Russia.
That claim was made recently by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, the current deputy chairman of the Russian security council.
“Now the interests of the citizens of Poland have been sacrificed due to the Russophobia of mediocre politicians and their puppeteers from across the ocean with clear signs of senile insanity,” Medvedev wrote recently on Telegram, a social media app popular in Russia and Ukraine.
Zaryn, the Polish security services spokesman, also pointed to a Polish Facebook page called “A Ukrainian is NOT my brother," whose posts call on followers not to forget the Ukrainian massacres of Poles in the 1940s.
The page was created less than a month after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and has nearly 55,000 followers. In recent weeks posts have criticized Polish authorities for their strong support for Ukraine.
Zaryn said evidence points to it being run by a woman with ties to a pro-Kremlin party, Zmiana, in Poland. The former leader of the party, Mateusz Piskorski, has worked for Russian news outlets RT and Sputnik and has been charged with espionage for Russia and China.
Poland's government has been taking steps to protect itself, with public warnings about the disinformation attempts and expulsions of dozens of suspected Russian agents and one arrest.
Days after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Polish authorities arrested a man they accused of being an agent of the Russian military intelligence agency, GRU, in Przemysl, a key entry points for Ukrainian refugees, as he sought to cross into Ukraine.
In late March, Poland ordered the expulsion of 45 suspected Russian intelligence officers they accused of using diplomatic status as a cover to operate in the country.
“The illegal activities of these diplomats can also pose a threat to those people who left their country to flee the war and found protection in our country,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lukasz Jasina said.
At a moment of huge solidarity in Poland and elsewhere with Ukrainians, disinformation is limited in its impact, argued Lacko, the NATO expert working to counter disinformation.
“Given the atrocities on the ground, it’s harder to fall into these sorts of traps,” she said.
But officials in Poland say they have to remain on guard, especially if the number of refugees grows, creating the potential for more social anxieties that can be exploited.
___
Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/poland-ukraine-ties-seen-as-target-of-russian-disinformation/3639031/
| 2022-04-10T14:19:04
| 1
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/poland-ukraine-ties-seen-as-target-of-russian-disinformation/3639031/
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that he is committed to pressing for peace despite Russian attacks on civilians that have stunned the world, and he renewed his plea for more weapons ahead of an expected surge in fighting in the country’s east.
He made the comments in an interview with The Associated Press a day after at least 52 people were killed in a strike on a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, and as evidence of civilian killings came to light after Russian troops failed to seize the capital where he has hunkered down, Kyiv.
“No one wants to negotiate with a person or people who tortured this nation. It’s all understandable. And as a man, as a father, I understand this very well,” Zelenskyy said. But “we don’t want to lose opportunities, if we have them, for a diplomatic solution.”
Wearing the olive drab that has marked his transformation into a wartime leader, he looked visibly exhausted yet animated by a drive to persevere. He spoke to the AP inside the presidential office complex, where windows and hallways are protected by towers of sandbags and heavily armed soldiers.
“We have to fight, but fight for life. You can’t fight for dust when there is nothing and no people. That’s why it is important to stop this war,” Zelenskyy said.
Russian troops that withdrew from northern Ukraine are now regrouping for what is expected to be an intensified push in the eastern Donbas region, including the besieged port city of Mariupol that Ukrainian fighters are striving to defend.
The president said those defenders are tying up “a big part of the enemy forces,” characterizing the battle to hold Mariupol as “the heart of the war” right now.
“It’s beating. We’re fighting. We’re strong. And if it stops beating, we will be in a weaker position,” he said.
Zelenskyy said he is confident Ukrainians would accept peace despite the horrors they have witnessed in the more than six-week-long war.
Those included gruesome images of bodies of civilians found in yards, parks and city squares and buried in mass graves in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha after Russian troops withdrew. Ukrainian and Western leaders have accused Moscow of war crimes.
Russia has falsely claimed that the scenes in Bucha were staged. It also put the blame on Ukraine for the attack on the train station in Kramatorsk as thousands of people rushed to flee ahead of an expected Russian offensive.
Despite hopes for peace, Zelenskyy acknowledged that he must be “realistic” about the prospects for a swift resolution given that negotiations have so far been limited to low-level talks that do not include Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy displayed a palpable sense of resignation and frustration when asked whether the supplies of weapons and other equipment his country has received from the United States and other Western nations were enough to turn the tide of the war.
“Not yet,” he said, switching to English for emphasis. “Of course it’s not enough.”
Still, he noted that there has been increased support from Europe and said deliveries of U.S. weapons have been accelerating.
Just this week, neighboring Slovakia, a European Union member, donated its Soviet-era S-300 air defense system to Ukraine in response to Zelenskyy's appeal to help “close the skies” to Russian warplanes and missiles.
Some of that support has come through visits by European leaders.
After meeting Zelenskyy in Kyiv earlier Saturday, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he expects more EU sanctions against Russia even as he defended his country’s opposition to cutting off deliveries of Russian natural gas.
The U.S., EU and United Kingdom responded to the images from Bucha with more sanctions, including ones targeting Putin's adult daughters. While the EU went after the Russian energy sector for the first time by banning coal, it has so far failed to agree on cutting off the much more lucrative oil and natural gas that is funding Putin's war chest. Europe relies on those supplies to generate electricity, fill fuel tanks and keep industry churning.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also made an unannounced visit to meet Zelenskyy, with his office saying they discussed Britain's “long-term support.”
In Kyiv on Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented Ukraine's leader with a questionnaire marking the first step for applying for EU membership. The head of the bloc’s executive arm said the process for completing the questionnaire could take weeks — an unusually fast turnaround — though securing membership would take far longer.
Zelenskyy turned introspective when asked what impact the pace of arms deliveries had for his people and whether more lives could have been saved if the help had come sooner.
“Very often we look for answers in someone else, but I often look for answers in myself. Did we do enough to get them?” he said of the weapons. “Did we do enough for these leaders to believe in us? Did we do enough?”
He paused and shook his head.
“Are we the best for this place and this time? Who knows? I don’t know. You question yourself,” he said.
___
AP photographer Evgeniy Maloletka contributed to this story.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/ukrainian-president-volodymyr-zelenskyy-seeks-peace-despite-atrocities/3639090/
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Spring activities will continue with Norman’s spring candy and egg hunt returning to Andrews Park this Friday.
The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. April 15 with face painting, Beanstalk Coffee and Sno, a food truck and a photo booth with the Easter bunny. The egg hunt will start at 6:30 p.m. in the northwest section of the park by the rock shelter, a little north of the ampitheater.
Raising Cane’s will have some eggs in the hunt that will include free meal coupons.
Costco provided four Easter baskets that will be given as prizes to the top four guesses in a jelly bean guessing game. Those winners will be announced at the end of the event.
Mitchell Richardson, Norman Parks Department’s recreation supervisor who is managing the event’s operations, is anticipating that 300 to 500 children will attend, and organizers have 25 to 30 five-gallon buckets full of candy and eggs to distribute on multiple search fields for ages 7-8, 5-6, 3-4, non-walkers and toddlers, and in an accessibility area.
Police and fire trucks will sound the siren for the hunt. Children also can explore the vehicles.
Richardson, who remembers attending the egg hunts as a child, said he has a picture of himself at age 3 or 4, sitting in the fire truck at the annual spring event.
“I kind of held that one in my brain for a while to want to recreate, make sure we have that available for the kids of Norman,” he said.
Richardson said he has great memories about the annual egg hunt, as well as a few other longtime events in Norman.
“Now being able to actually help produce it for the community I grew up in is something that’s really valuable, and hopefully we’re in tune with what Norman likes, and I think we’re going to have a great event for all of our Normanites,” he said.
Last year, the event was hosted at Reaves Park with a drive-through option and smaller hunt sections. In 2020, families were encouraged to simultaneously host their own egg hunts at home.
Now, the parks department is back to hosting in-person family events.
“Egg hunts are one of those things that families with really young children always look forward to in the springtime, and so we really wanted to prioritize holding that last year in any way we could, so we made it work,” said Veronica Tracy, the Norman Parks Department recreation manager. “But this year we’re back to the event as usual and we’re really excited about that.”
Tracy, who has worked for the city of Norman for seven months, said this will be her first time to help organize the egg hunt in Norman. Previously, she worked for the city of Oklahoma City in the parks and recreation department and in the city manager’s office.
Richardson said this is his first year in charge of the event, but he has helped with it since 2009. The city has hosted an egg hunt since before he was born, he said.
“We’ve heard from a lot of the Norman residents how much they value the egg hunt at Andrews Park, and I can honestly remember it being at Andrews Park when I was a child, and it’s great for the community to have that bond with Andrews Park,” he said. “It’s great to get people out there to see all the new things we’ve added to it, including the Blake Baldwin Skate Park there, and get some more interest around that park.”
Richardson said he anticipates good weather for the egg hunt and hopes residents will come out and enjoy one of the city’s great traditions.
“It is definitely a wonderful family-friendly spring evening to be out in Andrews Park and enjoying your friends and neighbors, and it’s a great way to begin the holiday weekend,” Tracy said.
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https://www.normantranscript.com/community/city-to-bring-egg-hunt-tradition-back-to-andrews-park/article_a17a2712-b755-11ec-aff0-f7b44871b959.html
| 2022-04-10T14:19:29
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https://www.normantranscript.com/community/city-to-bring-egg-hunt-tradition-back-to-andrews-park/article_a17a2712-b755-11ec-aff0-f7b44871b959.html
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A free class series coming up at The Well at 6 p.m. Thursdays, April 14, through June 2 is of vital importance to wellness.
“A Way to Wellness: Diabetes Prevention” is a community-based, lifestyle change program that helps prevent Type 2 diabetes by supporting people who are at risk for diabetes or want to change their health behavior for the better.
The program uses Centers for Disease Control guidelines and is presented by the Cleveland County Health Department.
Health educators Jennifer Trejo Rojo and Kelsey Jo Harlan are back to teach this amazing free series.
Participants will meet with health educators once a week for eight weeks to learn to eat healthier, increase physical activity and make healthier choices. Participants should be people who are 18 or older, live in Cleveland County, are not pregnant and are not diabetic.
“Classes are not mandatory, but all participants need to try to go to all eight classes, because each class offers new education and lets them check in personally with their lifestyle coach for weekly updates,” Trejo Rojo said. “If a person doesn’t believe that they can attend all or a majority of the classes at this time, we recommend that they wait for the next set of classes.”
“If you have risk factors for prediabetes — being overweight, having a family history of diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking — you can talk to your healthcare provider about getting your blood sugar checked,” Harlan said. “Prediabetes checks are essential because prediabetes often has no symptoms—only your doctor can tell for sure if you have diabetes or prediabetes.”
To participate in the program, participants do not have to be diagnosed as prediabetic, but they should be committed to making changes to improve their health.
“You can prevent Type 2 diabetes by improving your intake of nutritious foods, exercising more and managing your sleep and stress,” Trejo Rojo said. “Just losing a small amount of weight if you’re overweight and getting regular physical activity can lower your risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes.”
This eight-week course will help participants stay motivated and create healthy habits.
“Making healthier lifestyle choices gives you a longer life, and also gives you a better quality of life,” Harlan said. “Type 2 diabetes can be a life-long disease for you and your family. The price to manage diabetes is high, with insulin shots costing more than many Oklahomans can bear.
“This does not include the increase in cost of medical equipment, medication and doctors’ visits that come with it, and any other disease that you are more prone to getting with Type 2 diabetes.”
Trejo Rojo and Harlan are certified Lifestyle Coaches. This comprehensive program will provide guidance and encouragement while building a support system with other participants.
“By participating, you will find support and accountability as you strive to make lasting lifestyle changes to prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes,” Trejo Rojo said.
All participants will have access to the lifestyle coaches throughout the program and a month after the program ends.
“We know how hard it can be to keep the momentum going,” Trejo Rojo said. “You will get personal feedback as well as resources to help you on this journey.”
Sign up at thewellok.org.
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https://www.normantranscript.com/community/column-a-way-to-wellness-diabetes-prevention-series-set-at-the-well/article_35bfe9b8-b6c3-11ec-b588-cb2ba1485c81.html
| 2022-04-10T14:19:35
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https://www.normantranscript.com/community/column-a-way-to-wellness-diabetes-prevention-series-set-at-the-well/article_35bfe9b8-b6c3-11ec-b588-cb2ba1485c81.html
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Spring is here and your local garden center has new perennial plants for you.
Choosing plants from rows and rows of the same type of perennial can be daunting, especially when you want to pick the very best one to take home. Which plant do you pick when some have buds, some are blooming and others only have foliage?
Here are some selection tips to make your shopping trip easier.
First, do you choose plants in full bloom? Not really, since they have already bloomed and the blooms may not last much longer. Pick instead the plant that has buds or the beginnings of flower spikes as your best option. A plant like this is best, because you can see just enough of the flower to be sure you are getting the cultivar and the bloom color you want.
Remember that plants do get rearranged by customers, so the sign in front of plants may not necessarily reflect what is there. Tags in pots also get moved around, so seeing the beginnings of the bloom will tell you what you are buying.
Next, size definitely does matter. Most often, the largest plant is your best option, unless it is leggy. Also, look at the root system to ensure the plant isn’t root bound; a root bound plant (one with a dense mass of roots) can recover, but it will take time.
A medium-sized plant could root faster with healthier-looking foliage after being transplanted, but it might not grow much more this year. Never buy the smallest one if it is the same price as the others, as you will overpay.
There are some perennials that you should always buy bigger because they are slow growing; plants like false indigo, Russian sage and peonies fall into this category. Buying the largest plant you can find of these varieties means you will get a bigger impact sooner.
With peonies in particular, look into the crown for the plant with most eyes or stems; since peonies are so slow to take off, the more stems, the better.
Finally, if you are simply looking for a great deal, choose a plant that is spilling out of its pot, because it can easily be divided into several plants for the price of one.
If you see plants that are deeply discounted because of damage, or you see a plant you think you might be able to revive, those can be difficult to pass up. However, carefully examine the plant first before you decide to spend your money. It will not hurt a plant to look at its roots; simply straddle stems with your fingers and gently tip the top.
Here are some things to look for if you are considering buying a damaged or deeply discounted plant: Avoid a plant that has been newly transplanted, with roots that don’t fill the pot. Although it is okay to buy if you get a really good discount, remember that it will be a long time before it takes off in your garden.
Second, look for pest damage — lacelike holes in discolored foliage — most likely caused by Japanese beetles. These insects can mark plants for others to find later, so skip insect-damaged plants.
If you see shriveled brown or pale leaves, the plant has not gotten enough water or protection from strong sun. If foliage looks really stressed, this plant will rarely bounce back, so leave this one on the shelf. Finally, avoid plants with dead crowns or roots that are easy to pick off; these are signs of overwatering. Since rotted roots never recover, do not buy overwatered plants.
If you follow the tips when you choose your perennials, you should bring home plants that will flourish in your garden. and to see many examples of all kinds of plants, visit the Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds, southwest corner adjacent to the gravel parking lot.
For more ideas about gardening and to obtain top quality plants, be sure to attend the Spring Garden Party on April 16 in the demonstration gardens. We will offer how-to classes, activities for kids and the best plants to purchase for your gardens.
Also, remember that you can call the County Extension office with questions or submit them online at the Cleveland County Master Gardener website at clevelandcountymastergardeners.org.
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https://www.normantranscript.com/community/gardening-how-to-choose-and-purchase-perennials/article_208c2f52-b6c8-11ec-af2b-73c91b1f43fe.html
| 2022-04-10T14:19:41
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https://www.normantranscript.com/community/gardening-how-to-choose-and-purchase-perennials/article_208c2f52-b6c8-11ec-af2b-73c91b1f43fe.html
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This year, the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History’s annual Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair will be hosted virtually, similar to last year’s fair.
“We are very excited to be able to offer a safe way for our Native language students, teachers and speakers to celebrate language this year,” said Raina Heaton, assistant curator of Native American languages and assistant professor of Native American studies at the University of Oklahoma. “Although we will miss seeing everyone in person, we want to support all the language work people have continued to do despite the pandemic.”
The fair celebrates language diversity and recognizes the efforts of students and teachers to revitalize Native American language and heritage.
All submissions and winners will be displayed virtually through the Sam Noble Museum’s YouTube channel starting April 4. This year’s entries will be available at bit.ly/3xeS0me.
“ONAYLF has always aimed to promote the value of language diversity in Oklahoma,” said Dan Swan, ethnology curator emeritus. “The museum and its curatorial staff have been instrumental in working with tribal communities and the Oklahoma State Education Department to develop standards and a credentialing process for Native language teachers in Oklahoma public schools.”
ONAYLF began in April 2003 at the museum. Elder and teacher Geneva Navarro (Comanche), Indian educator Quinton Roman Nose (Cheyenne) and the museum’s first Native American languages curator, Mary Linn, sought to recognize the Native language teachers and students in Oklahoma.
The fair has encouraged and supported the efforts of Native communities in Oklahoma and the surrounding region to document, revitalize and perpetuate their ancestral languages.
While many of the fair’s original goals are the same, they have grown as the Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair has grown.
The fair was supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities via the American Rescue Plan.
Additional sponsors for the fair include the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, the, OU Native Nations Center, and the OU Department of Native American Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Thank you for your support.
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is located on the OU Norman campus at J. Willis Stovall Road and Chautauqua Avenue.
For accommodations, call 325-7977 or visit SamNobleMuseum.ou.edu.
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https://www.normantranscript.com/community/museum-to-host-virtual-language-fair/article_05cb84de-b77b-11ec-9e3b-1716d2e772db.html
| 2022-04-10T14:19:48
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https://www.normantranscript.com/community/museum-to-host-virtual-language-fair/article_05cb84de-b77b-11ec-9e3b-1716d2e772db.html
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The following building permit activity was reported by the Development Services Division of the City of Norman for March 24-30.
CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY OR COMPLETION ISSUED:
Commercial New Shell:
5744 Huettner Ct. — H Industrial LLC, Shell Building No. 4, $358,000, Ward 8
Tenant Finish:
5744 Huettner Ct., 100 — H Industrial LLC, MacBax Land Surveying, $80,000, Ward 8
Addition/Alteration:
3024 Classen Blvd. — Casey’s Marketing Company, Kitchen Remodel, $456,000, Ward 7
5744 Huettner Ct., 110 — H Industrial LLC, White Box, $85,000, Ward 8
5744 Huettner Ct., 130 — H Industrial LLC, White Box, $60,000, Ward 8
621 Sunrise St. — Norman Public Schools, Kennedy Elementary Safe Room Addition, $1,400,000, Ward 1
2290 W. Main St. — WH Normandy Creek LP, Normandy Creek Façade, $50,000, Ward 2
COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY-PERMITS ISSUED:
New Construction:
4343 N. Flood Ave. — Victory Family Church Inc., Pavilion, $276,518, Ward 8
Addition/Alteration:
1496 E. Main St. — Bethel, Shelba J., AT&T upgrade six antennas, $10,000, Ward 6
3997 N. Porter Ave. — Kay, Timothy James and Sharon, AT&T upgrade nine antennas, $11,500, Ward 6
450 S. Flood Ave. — City of Norman, Lions Park, Restrooms, $83,000, Ward 4
Demolition:
1001 E. Robinson St. — City of Norman, Demo three concession buildings, N/A, Ward 8
COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY-APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED:
New Construction:
3803 S. Chautauqua Ave. — City of Norman, Hazardous Waste Containers, $130,000, Ward 7
3751 Classen Blvd. — Heritage Fine Homes, Medwise Urgent Care, $1,100,000, Ward 5
602 N. Findlay Ave. — City of Norman, Norman Senior Wellness Center, $12,000,000, Ward 4
7795 E. Indian Hills Rd. — Moses, Jimmie Paul, Verizon Wireless Tower (New), $125,000, Ward 6
Addition/Alteration:
2520 Hemphill Dr. — Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, Meeting Room Renovation, $500,000, Ward 2
2520 Hemphill Dr. — Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, Lobby Renovation, $150,000, Ward 2
10790 E. Lindsey St. — Yarber, Richard, AT&T six new antennas, $11,500, Ward 5
320 12th Ave. SE — 100 L & S Development, Vapor Lax, $150,000, Ward 4
1915 Classen Blvd., 103 — Albano, Bob, White Box, $110,000, Ward 4
329 W. Boyd St. — Powell, Raney, Boyd Street Ventures, $200,000, Ward 4
Temporary Construction Trailer:
518 N. Findlay Ave. — Norman Regional Hospital, Temporary Construction $35,000, Ward 4
RESIDENTIAL ACTIVITY:
• Eleven permits for new single family residences were issued with a total reported value of $2,422,010. The average reported value was $220,183, five of which applied to the City’s Home Energy Rating System (HERS/Energy Rating Index Program) and none to the city’s Visitability Program.
• Twenty-two permits for additions or alterations to residential properties were issued with a total reported value of $2,185,106, two of which were storm shelters.
• One demolition permit was issued for 1901 W. Imhoff Rd.
• One fire repair permit was issued for 336 Overton Dr.
• Seven applications for new single family residences were submitted with a combined reported value of $2,016,960. The average reported value was $288,137.
• One application to replace a manufactured home was submitted for 2402 168th Ave. NE.
• Four applications for addition/alterations to residential properties were submitted with a reported value of $383,992.
— Submitted Content
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https://www.normantranscript.com/news/4-10-building-permits/article_eca82c4c-b6b1-11ec-a709-efecb3a63cd7.html
| 2022-04-10T14:19:54
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https://www.normantranscript.com/news/4-10-building-permits/article_eca82c4c-b6b1-11ec-a709-efecb3a63cd7.html
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From farm to fleece to needle, a local shop and fiber mill has a variety of colorful yarn offerings derived from alpacas and sheep.
Betsy Morehead’s mother taught her how to crochet and knit when she was young.
The plan to open a business developed when she was laid off from her job in the oil and gas industry in fall 2018. She was still licensed to practice law in Arkansas and Oklahoma, but going back to a law office didn’t sound enticing.
Most of the women and some of the men in her family knew how to crochet and knit. In 2013, she began spinning yarn on a wheel, and subsequently learned about fiber and the animals that produce fleece and wool and how to process it.
“I wanted to work with sheep wool, alpaca fleece and any other animal fiber I could get my hands on,” Morehead said.
After she researched and investigated with her husband, Mike, they purchased some used equipment from a couple in Kentucky and opened Scissortail Yarn & Fiber Mill, 119 N. Crawford Ave. in 2019. They had a small space for retail to sell the yarn she was making.
When another local yarn store closed last fall, Morehead looked to fill a need in Norman’s knitting and crocheting community. She ordered some wholesale brands to sell alongside her made-in-house yarns.
The shop now sells yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners, Manos del Uruguay, Cascade and The Alpaca Yarn Company.
Scissortail Yarn & Fiber Mill get their alpaca fiber from coast to coast, but much of it is acquired from in-state. Morehead said alpacas are sheared every year, and sheep are sheared twice a year. Morehead said in the spring, many people in Oklahoma shear their alpacas.
“Farmers will skirt off the part they don’t want processed, or that they want separated from the better part of the fleece, and then they’ll send it out to me,” Morehead said. “We will get it washed, guard hairs removed and run through cleaning machines that take out parts you don’t want in your yarn, and we will make yarn out of the good part.”
The unwanted parts of the fleece are used to create dyer balls and felt, which can be used for gardening. Morehead has recently started selling felted herb seeds.
“I’ve got some basil and cilantro and other seeds,” Morehead said. “I don’t need a whole package for the little squares, but it would be nice to have a little bunch for beginner [gardeners].”
Customers may buy Addi knitting machines, Addi knitting needles and crochet hooks at the store. They also sell their finished creations such as hats, scarves, mittens, coozies, felted soaps, felted gardens, rugs and bottle socks.
The store has yarns in standard primary and secondary colors to unique blends and natural hues.
Morehead recently made a yarn with wool and cellulose, a plant fiber, for someone who was knitting a sweater. The violet and light brown result was similar to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“[My friend] bought all that I had in stock to make the sweater, and needed more, so I actually had to reach out to the woman I was doing the trade with to get her half of the same yarn so she could finish her sweater,” Morehead said.
Morehead said the operation is currently small-scale, but she hopes to soon move to a larger space to allow for classes, knit nights and other makers to teach workshops. Because sometimes, people come to the store simply looking for expertise, she said.
Morehead has used a trading system where people who raise alpaca send her their fleece to make yarn for years. She sends half of the yield back to them and keeps the remaining half.
“It’s a nice way to get some free yarn,” Morehead said.
Until the day classes start up, Morehead said she and the other two employees are always willing to help, whether that’s offering advice to complete a knitting or crocheting project directly, acquiring the right supplies or finding them a resource that can help with the process, like an instructional video on YouTube.
Staci Forshee has worked with Betsy for a year, and said her passion for the craft is contagious. Differentiating fibers and developing a working knowledge of the machinery takes time, but Forshee enjoys the challenge.
“It can be very rewarding for people like me that are a little [hyperfocused], and can take something that’s chaotic like the [animal fiber], and then make it into something so uniform and pretty, there’s a reward in that,” Forshee said.
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https://www.normantranscript.com/news/local-yarn-mill-owner-helps-normanites-find-fibery-fun/article_a614d55a-b75b-11ec-9c6e-339f5ab02efd.html
| 2022-04-10T14:20:00
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https://www.normantranscript.com/news/local-yarn-mill-owner-helps-normanites-find-fibery-fun/article_a614d55a-b75b-11ec-9c6e-339f5ab02efd.html
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I asked how long it had been since he’d turned off his computer. “I never turn off my computer,” he replied, with a somewhat annoyed look on his face and tone in his voice.
Knowing even then, as I do now, the first maxim of computer troubleshooting (“When in doubt, reboot”), I said, “Let’s see what happens if we reboot your computer.”
I clicked Start, Shutddown and Restart, only to be greeted with an error message that said, “Other people are logged on to this computer. Shutting down Windows might cause them to lose data. Do you want to continue shutting down?”
I did not like this message at all. Looking at an early version of Process Explorer revealed 28 other people logged on to Bob’s computer. Bob was beginning to look a bit pale.
Returning to the shutdown process, I mumbled, “Heck, yeah, I want those 28 people to lose data,” and I restarted Bob’s computer.
Soon, I was looking at a Windows logon screen, asking me for Bob’s password. “Bob, what’s your password?” I asked.
“Bob,” he replied. At first I thought he was kidding, but the look on his face told me otherwise.
“Uh, really? Your password is the same as your first name? Your password is ‘Bob?’”
“Yes,” he said, slowly drawing out the word.
I knew we were in for an interesting afternoon.
Now, keep in mind that the Windows Login password is not a super-critial password. Its major function is to limit who can actually use the computer.
The same goes for an Apple Mac Login. For most setups, that means people who have actual, physical access to the computer. In other words, if a person wants to sit down at the computer and use it, they have to use the keyboard to enter a password.
First off, I disconnected Bob’s computer from the Internet. Then, after explaining why he absolutely was not allowed to use “Bob” as his password, I changed Bob’s password to something more secure.
The computer login password is one thing, but poor Bob used the same horrible password (“Bob”) for everything; email, online accounts, the works. It was a rather tedious, time consuming chore.
After yanking out about twenty viruses (Bob had no antivirus software installed), installing a firewall (on his old Windows 98 computer, Bob had none; remember, this was in the 1990s) and a gazillion Windows updates (Bob had never updated anything), Bob and Bob’s computer were feeling much happier.
What were those 28 other people doing logged on to Bob’s computer? I was never too sure about that.
Those many years ago, I didn’t know computer security like I know it now; I just knew it was a bad idea for that many mystery users to be connected to his computer.
Perhaps his computer was being used to forward spam email or distribute pornography.
Maybe the gang of 28 were using Bob’s computer as a front, hiding behind it while attacking more lucrative targets, such as banks or corporate databases.
Such activities are commonplace these days, with the bad guys running rampant over people with weak passwords.
It’s good to learn about password security, and how to manage multiple passwords for multiple accounts. Put that on your list of things to do. Until then, stay safe and happy computing.
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https://www.normantranscript.com/news/passwords-from-the-twilight-zone/article_30593e94-b758-11ec-83bb-1b57530e9105.html
| 2022-04-10T14:20:06
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https://www.normantranscript.com/news/passwords-from-the-twilight-zone/article_30593e94-b758-11ec-83bb-1b57530e9105.html
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It reminds me of the tight brotherhood of firefighters who risk it all to battle the blazes. It doesn’t matter if it’s a career firefighter or a volunteer who wants to serve his or her neighbors.
Firefighters are loved and don’t mind helping each other out.
Probably the greatest act of firefighter mutual aid in Norman’s history came nearly a century ago.
Norman was a boomtown after World War I. The roaring 20s brought hundreds of students to campus. The soldiers returned to study and downtown banks and shops were ready to sell to them.
An early-morning fire in the block between Peters Avenue and Crawford Street threatened to take down much of the downtown business community. The blaze in September of 1923 started in the basement of the Berry Mercantile Company and quickly spread to other buildings, according to early news accounts.
Other burned buildings included the Security National Bank, Rucker’s Department Store, the Lewis and Taylor hardware store, the McGinley Grocery store and three other buildings.
The store’s neighbors included the Norman post office, several bakeries, a furniture store and a drugstore. The city’s telephone operators worked across the street and stayed on the job despite the rising flames.
Most of the townsfolk turned out to watch crews battle the early morning blaze. Authorities were concerned that the fire could ignite the supply of dynamite and shells sold at the hardware store, threatening onlookers.
Norman’s two pumper trucks failed during the fire.
If not for the relatively rapid response of Oklahoma City fire crews, much of the downtown would have been lost.
Two trucks and 15 firefighters from Oklahoma City covered the 18 miles in 24 minutes to help keep the blaze to half a block.
It would be the most damage from a fire in the city’s history, but not the deadliest. That occurred five years earlier when a dormitory at Central State Hospital caught fire, killing 40 patients.
Without the aid from Oklahoma City firefighters, Norman crews were preparing to dynamite buildings to keep the flames from spreading further east downtown.
The city’s newly-formed Rotary Club awarded its “loving cup” to Oklahoma City firefighters for their valiant effort and midnight dash to Norman.
Within a short time, the bank reopened with the help from another bank and the post office’s vault. Property owners began the process of rebuilding.
Editor’s note:{/em} In the recent Cycling Route 66 column, we inadvertently renamed the famous Vinita, OK, eatery. Clanton’s Cafe has been a hometown favorite on Route 66 since it opened in 1930, just four years after the highway was completed through Oklahoma.
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https://www.normantranscript.com/opinion/column-downtown-saved-by-neighboring-firefighters/article_a396aece-b789-11ec-8f68-6fe8ef4743fd.html
| 2022-04-10T14:20:12
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Last weekend, we asked for good faith dialogue around homelessness in our community.
This week, with Sunday’s fact check story from news editor Max Bryan, we ask that elected officials be careful about their rhetoric around homelessness.
Most recently we’ve seen councilors raise and stoke concerns about the proximity of the proposed shelter to Le Monde International School. Councilors say the proposed location at 900 E. Main St. places Le Monde students in danger of interacting with violent or sex offenders.
But the existing homeless shelter, as Bryan points out, is already within 2,000 feet of not one, but two public schools. Homeless Normanites regularly stay at the shelter; when issues of conflict or violence do arise, they happen directly around the shelter and are quickly resolved by security or police.
Yet there have been zero issues between the schools, their students’ safety and their homeless neighbors.
The conversation about Le Monde might be understandable if Norman had previously seen issues with school-shelter interactions. But there’s no evidence that’s an issue here, and city staff have also vowed to take additional measures to ensure sex offenders aren’t staying at the shelter.
If we want Norman’s homeless residents to actually have access to helpful resources — like Food and Shelter, the hospital and other central Norman amenities — proximity to a school is likely an inevitability.
That doesn’t mean we can’t be cautious and take measures to ensure our students’ safety, but it does mean we don’t need to move our homeless residents to a remote corner of the city over a concern that has never proven to be an issue in Norman.
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https://www.normantranscript.com/opinion/editorial-lets-talk-about-the-whole-truth-when-we-talk-about-homelessness-in-norman/article_502b8d8c-b788-11ec-9b67-2b8324ac6d97.html
| 2022-04-10T14:20:19
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https://www.normantranscript.com/opinion/editorial-lets-talk-about-the-whole-truth-when-we-talk-about-homelessness-in-norman/article_502b8d8c-b788-11ec-9b67-2b8324ac6d97.html
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Through three weeks of spring practices, nearly every Oklahoma offensive player has lauded Jeff Lebby’s fast-paced offensive system.
Lebby’s emphasis on running a lot of plays as fast as possible isn’t a gimmick; it’s about keeping the opposing defenses off balance.
“We’re running a lot of plays in a short amount of time,” OU center Andrew Raym said. “Even our defense is telling us right now it’s going to be a defense killer. They don’t even know what’s coming at them.”
Just like the offense, the defense is adjusting to Brent Venables and Ted Roof’s new defensive system. But the defensive players, especially the veterans, is also adjusting to the speed of the new offense.
OU redshirt junior cornerback Woodi Washington said there’s a clear difference in pace with this year’s offense compared to previous years.
“The offense goes very, very, very quick,” OU cornerback Woodi Washington said. “It’s something we’re definitely not used to seeing. We’re definitely getting adjusted to it in a good way.”
The Sooners’ faster pace on offense even surprised the the defense, at least at first.
“It’s definitely wild, especially the first week,” OU defensive lineman Jordan Kelly said. “We had a new defense and they came out with a faster tempo than I’ve ever played against. It’s hard to get used to but I feel it’ll benefit so much when we go against other people’s tempo. We’ll just be there waiting for them and they’ll be trying to tempo us. It will definitely benefit us. We’re getting work.”
“I heard there was going to be tempo, but I thought it would just be normal tempo. The next thing you know, they are snapping the ball in 10 seconds. I’m like ‘we just got back to the ball.’ It’s crazy but it’s definitely exciting. and I know that I’m getting that much better working with that every day.”
It’s even had an impact on the line of scrimmage, with both the offensive and defensive lines battling for control amid the faster pace.
“It’s definitely physical in the trenches,” Kelly said. “The O-line and D-line have been getting after it. One thing I do want to shout out [is] the O-line. Their tempo, they are snapping the ball in 10-12 seconds. It’s a tempo that I’ve never played against and it’s definitely making the team better.”
The offensive players have noticed how much faster the defense is playing, and a lot of the scrimmages in practice have been a competition on who can play with more pace.
“The way they want everybody to run to the ball [on defense] kind of slows down the offense,” OU receiver Marvin Mims said. “But when we go live in scrimmages and stuff, we’re able to really see how fast the offense goes and how fast we can kind of manipulate the defense by them not being able to get a call in or something like that.”
For OU coach Brent Venables, the offense isn’t just forcing the defense to adapt when it comes to learning the playbook and playing with a faster pace. It’s also helping with seeing things before the ball even snaps and understanding the new concepts.
“It creates a sense of urgency about all of the pre-snap procedural things from the sideline to the field to the communication to getting lined up with urgency,” Venables said. “I love it. I love all of it because it challenges things that are, in some ways, out of your control as a coach. The players need to buy into my pre-snap procedures. To me, the challenge every day and every play is to take away something to neutralize something that they view as a strength.
“As I challenge both sides of the ball, I challenge the offense. That’s great if they can get to a pace where, next thing you know, they’re dragging people up and down the field and making them quick. That’s the goal. That’s the mindset. You want to taste blood. You want to go for the jugular. That’s what the game is about, but you can’t rely on that as the answer. To me, the answer is fundamentals, technique, mindset and physicality. It’s precision and attention to detail. It’s 11 guys playing with purpose, 11 guys being on the same page.
One unintended consequence is that the pace is helping both sides of the ball stay in shape, too.
“It’s a great conditioning thing,” Venables said. “We don’t have to do additional conditioning to get our team right when transitioning from spring ball to summer workouts. That in itself is a great challenge for our guys and a way for our guys to get in shape.
“But it really challenges you both physically and mentally and develops a toughness that you have to have to play this game when you’re practicing at a really tough, challenging pace.”
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https://www.normantranscript.com/sports/ou-football-sooners-defense-adjusting-to-sooners-quick-tempo-offense/article_a8385488-b82d-11ec-afb3-7bf217cd32b7.html
| 2022-04-10T14:20:25
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LONDON (AP) — British author Jack Higgins, who wrote “The Eagle Has Landed” and other bestselling thrillers and espionage novels, has died. He was 92.
Publisher HarperCollins said that Higgins died at his home on the English Channel island of Jersey surrounded by his family.
Born Henry Patterson in in Newcastle, England, in July 1929, Higgins served in the military before studying sociology at the London School of Economics. He became a teacher in the northern city of Leeds and a writer in his spare time, with novels that sold modestly starting in the late 1950s.
That changed with the 1975 publication of “The Eagle Has Landed,” about a fictional World War II plot to kidnap British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In a 2010 interview with The Guardian, Higgins recounted a pivotal call from his accountant.
“He asked me what I wanted to get out of my writing,” Higgins said. “I replied that I wasn’t really sure, before adding as a joke it would be nice to make a million by the time I retired. He then said: ‘Well you’re a bloody fool. Because you’ve just earned that much this week. So what are you going to do about it?’”
He was advised to leave England because of 1970s taxation rates and settled with his family on Jersey.
“The Eagle Has Landed” became more popular after the 1976 film adaptation was released. Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall were among the stars of the eponymously named movie that was a box office success.
In a statement, HarperCollins chief executive Charlie Redmayne said Higgins’ death marked “the end of an era.”
“I’ve been a fan of Jack Higgins for longer than I can remember. He was a classic thriller writer: instinctive, tough, relentless,” he said.
“The Eagle Has Landed and his other Liam Devlin books, his later Sean Dillon series, and so many others were and remain absolutely unputdownable.”
Patterson wrote nearly 80 books, most under the pseudonym of Jack Higgins. Other Higgins titles included “The Eagle Has Flown,” “Angel of Death,” ”Day of Reckoning,” and “A Darker Place.”
According to his publisher’s website, the novels have sold more than 250 million copies and been translated into dozens of languages.
His survivors include his wife, Denise, and four children from his previous marriage.
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https://www.wane.com/entertainment-news/the-eagle-has-landed-author-jack-higgins-dead-at-92/
| 2022-04-10T14:33:30
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https://www.wane.com/entertainment-news/the-eagle-has-landed-author-jack-higgins-dead-at-92/
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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The son of a single mother who raised him on a pension, Anthony Albanese had a humble start to life for an aspiring Australian prime minister.
But despite his disadvantaged upbringing in public housing in Sydney, the man known since childhood as Albo has risen to the top of the center-left Australian Labor Party and is now only an election away from potentially realizing his ambition to lead the national government.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an election on May 21.
As a young child, to spare Albanese the scandal of being “illegitimate” in a working-class Roman Catholic family in socially conservative 1960s Australia, he was told that his Italian father Carlo Albanese had died in a car accident shortly after marrying his ethnic-Irish Australian mother Maryanne Ellery in Europe.
His mother, who became an invalid pensioner because of chronic rheumatoid arthritis, told him the truth when he was 14 years old: His father was not dead and his parents had never married.
Carlo Albanese had been a steward on a cruise ship when the couple met in 1962 during the only overseas trip of her life. She returned to Sydney from her seven-month journey through Asia to Britain and continental Europe almost four months pregnant, according to Anthony Albanese’s 2016 biography, “Albanese: Telling it Straight.”
She was living with her parents in their local government-owned house in inner-suburban Camperdown when her only child was born on March 2, 1963.
Out of loyalty to his mother and a fear of hurting her feelings, Albanese waited until after her death in 2002 before searching for his father.
Father and son were happily united in 2009 in the father’s hometown of Barletta in southern Italy. The son was in Italy for business meetings as Australia‘s minister for transport and infrastructure.
Anthony Albanese was a minister throughout Labor’s most recent six years in power and reached his highest office — deputy prime minister — in his government’s final three months that ended with the 2013 election.
“It says a great thing about our nation that the son of a (single) parent who grew up in a council house in Sydney could be deputy prime minister of Australia,” Albanese said. He had just defeated the son of a former deputy prime in a ballot of fellow lawmakers for the post.
But Albanese’s critics argue that it’s not his humble background but his left-wing politics that make him unsuitable to be prime minister.
The conservative government argues he would be the most left-wing Australian leader in almost 50 years since the crash-or-crash-through reformer Gough Whitlam, a flawed hero of the Labor Party.
In 1975, Whitlam became the only Australian prime minister to be ousted from office by a British monarch’s representative in what is described as a constitutional crisis.
Whitlam had introduced during his brief but tumultuous three years in power free university education, which enabled Albanese to graduate from Sydney University with an economics degree despite his meager financial resources.
Albanese’s supporters argue that while he was from Labor’s so-called Socialist Left faction, he was a pragmatist with a proven ability to deal with more conservative elements of the party.
Albanese had undergone what has been described as a makeover in the past year, opting for more fashionable suits and glasses. He has also shed 18 kilograms (40 pounds) in what many assume is an effort to make himself more attractive to voters.
Albanese says he believed he was about to die in a two-car collision in Sydney in January last year and that that was the catalyst for his healthier life choices. He had briefly resigned himself to a fate he once believed had been his father’s.
After the accident, Albanese spent a night in a hospital and suffered what he described as external and internal injuries that he has not detailed. The 17-year-old boy behind the wheel of the Range Rover SUV that collided with Albanese’s much smaller Toyota Camry sedan was charged with negligent driving.
Asked at the National Press Club of Australia in January to explain who he was, Albanese replied he was the son of a pensioner mother who had grown up with the security of a local government-provided house.
Albanese said he was 12 years old when he became involved in his first political campaign. His fellow public housing tenants successfully defeated a local council proposal to sell their homes — a move that would have increased their rent — in a campaign that involved refusing to pay the council in a so-called rent strike.
The unpaid rent debt was forgiven, which Albanese described as a “lesson for those people who weren’t part of the rent strike: Solidarity works.”
“As I grew up, I understood the impact that government had, can have, on making a difference to people’s lives,” Albanese said. “And in particular, to opportunity.”
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https://www.wane.com/news/australia-pm-hopeful-albanese-had-humble-start-to-life/
| 2022-04-10T14:33:36
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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — In at least one sense, Scott Morrison is the most successful Australian prime minister in years.
He is the first to survive in office from one election to the next since 2007. That year, the government of Australia’s second-longest-serving Prime Minister John Howard was voted out after a reign of almost 12 years.
Between Howard and Morrison, there have been four prime ministers including Kevin Ruddwho served twice during an extraordinary period of political instability in Australia.
Rudd’s second stint ended when voters ousted his center-left Australian Labor Party government in the 2013 election. The other three prime ministers were toppled by their own parties, which panicked amid poor opinion polling. So too was Rudd during his first stint that set the revolving door to the prime minister’s office spinning.
Morrison’s relative longevity can be explained in part by his conservative Liberal Party tightening the rules that enable them to activate their leader’s ejector seat.
But most put his survival for a full three-year term down to the credit Morrison is given for leading his coalition to a narrow victory in the last election in 2019 when Labor was favored to win. Some betting agencies had been so confident of a Labor victory that they had paid out the party’s backers before polling day.
Morrison announced on Sunday that the next election will be held on May 21. It’s the latest date available to him.
Morrison’s coalition is again behind in most opinion polls. But the polls’ credibility has not recovered from the shock of the 2019 result and Morrison is now recognized as a masterful campaigner who does not surrender.
The 53-year-old former tourism marketer was labeled the “accidental prime minister” in 2018 when his government colleagues chose him to replace then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
It was yet another overthrow of a prime minister without involving voters for reasons not fully explained in a process that Australians increasingly loathe. Polls suggested Morrison would have one of the shortest tenures of any Australian prime minister with elections only months away.
His critics argue that his success has been a triumph of style over substance.
The satirical website Betoota Advocate labeled him “Scotty from Marketing” when he first came to power and the description has gained popularity since.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has been nicknamed Albo since he was a child in keeping with a time-honored Australian tradition of abbreviating names and often adding “o” at the end.
Likewise, Morrison is widely known as ScoMo. But there is conjecture around just how organic that nickname is.
“That’s what I’ve been tagged as, so I may as well embrace it,” Morrison said in 2017 when as treasurer he added “ScoMo” to his Facebook account name.
Morrison sells himself as an ordinary Australian family man who is passionate about his Sydney Pentecostal church and his local National Rugby League football team, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
His persona is described as “Daggy Dad,” an affectionate Australian term for an unfashionable father who can be amusing but can also be a source of embarrassment for teenage children.
During a family profile for Australia’s “60 Minutes” current affairs program broadcast nationally in February, he sang an amateurish rendition of a 1970s rock song “April Sun in Cuba” while strumming a ukulele.
He is the son of police officer and one-term mayor John Morrison and a descendant of British convict William Roberts, who arrived in Australia in 1788 with the first fleet of 11 ships that established the penal colony that became Sydney.
He promoted tourism for the Australian and New Zealand governments before entering politics.
He is seen by some as an incongruous mix of a committed Christian who made his name through ratcheting up a refugee policy that many church groups have condemned as inhumane.
Morrison rose to public prominence when the conservative coalition government was first elected under Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2013 as the minister who stopped asylum-seekers from attempting to reach Australian shores by boat.
Australia used the navy to turn boats back to Indonesia, or it banished refugees to remote immigration camps in the poor Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru.
The policy has been widely condemned as a callous abrogation of Australia’s international obligations to help refugees. Australia’s human rights watchdog found in 2014 that Morrison failed to act in the best interests of asylum-seeker children in detention.
Morrison explained his deep belief in the righteousness of crushing the people-smuggling trade and preserving the safety of people who are tempted to board rickety boats to take the long and treacherous voyage to Australia.
The boats have stopped arriving and the government recently moved to neutralize the plight of refugees still languishing on the islands by accepting a New Zealand offer to resettle 150 a year.
Morrison remains proud of the refugee policy. He has a trophy shaped like a silhouette of a people-smuggler’s boat inscribed with the words: “I Stopped These.”
Sen. Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, an enemy of Morrison within his conservative Liberal Party, said the prime minister’s faith was a marketing ploy.
She described Morrison as the most ruthless person she had met in her public life.
“He is adept at running with the foxes and hunting with the hounds, lacking a moral compass and having no conscience,” Fierravanti-Wells said in her final speech to the Senate in March.
“His actions conflict with his portrayal as a man of faith. He has used his so-called faith as a marketing advantage,” she added.
Morrison referred to his Christian faith’s influence on his politics during his first speech to Parliament in 2008.
“So what values do I derive from my faith?” Morrison asked.
“My answer comes from Jeremiah, Chapter 9:24: I am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things, declares the Lord,” he said.
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https://www.wane.com/news/australia-pm-morrison-first-to-serve-full-term-in-15-years/
| 2022-04-10T14:33:43
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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Russian ally Serbia took the delivery of a sophisticated Chinese anti-aircraft system in a veiled operation this weekend, amid Western concerns that an arms buildup in the Balkans at the time of the war in Ukraine could threaten the fragile peace in the region.
Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.
The Chinese cargo planes with military markings were pictured at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport. Serbia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.
The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China’s growing global reach.
“The Y-20s’ appearance raised eyebrows because they flew en masse as opposed to a series of single-aircraft flights,” wrote The Warzone online magazine. “The Y-20′s presence in Europe in any numbers is also still a fairly new development.”
Serbian military analyst Aleksandar Radic said that “the Chinese carried out their demonstration of force.”
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic all but confirmed the delivery of the medium-range system that was agreed in 2019, saying on Saturday that he will present “the newest pride” of the Serbian military on Tuesday or Wednesday.
He had earlier complained that NATO countries, which represent most of Serbia’s neighbors, are refusing to allow the system’s delivery flights over their territories amid tensions over Russia’s aggression on Ukraine.
Although Serbia has voted in favor of U.N. resolutions that condemn the bloody Russian attacks in Ukraine, it has refused to join international sanctions against its allies in Moscow or outright criticize the apparent atrocities committed by the Russian troops there.
Back in 2020, U.S. officials warned Belgrade against the purchase of HQ-22 anti-aircraft systems, whose export version is known as FK-3. They said that if Serbia really wants to join the European Union and other Western alliances, it must align its military equipment with Western standards.
The Chinese missile system has been widely compared to the American Patriot and the Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems although it has a shorter range than more advanced S-300s. Serbia will be the first operator of the Chinese missiles in Europe.
Serbia was at war with its neighbors in the 1990s. The country, which is formally seeking EU membership, has already been boosting its armed forces with Russian and Chinese arms, including warplanes, battle tanks and other equipment.
In 2020, it took delivery of Chengdu Pterodactyl-1 drones, known in China as Wing Loong. The combat drones are able to strike targets with bombs and missiles and can be used for reconnaissance tasks.
There are fears in the West that the arming of Serbia by Russia and China could encourage the Balkan country toward another war, especially against its former province of Kosovo that proclaimed independence in 2008. Serbia, Russia and China don’t recognize Kosovo’s statehood, while the United States and most Western countries do.
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https://www.wane.com/news/china-makes-semi-secret-delivery-of-missiles-to-serbia/
| 2022-04-10T14:33:50
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(STACKER) — Since its establishment in 1789 by the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. Supreme Court has seen 17 chief justices, and 116 justices in total. Many landmark cases have passed through the Supreme Court of the U.S., having set precedents and changed the fabric of society.
Stacker compiled an account of the educational and professional history of each current Supreme Court justice, including Ketanji Brown Jackson, the newest member. Each justice’s background is divided into three sections: education, early career life, and professional life in the years leading up to their tenures on the Supreme Court.
The SCOTUS has been predominantly white and male since its founding. In fact, all but eight of the court’s 116 justices have been white men.
Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman to be confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1981; Thurgood Marshall was the first person of color to be appointed to the court in 1967; and Jackson became the first Black woman confirmed to the highest court in the nation on April 7, 2022.
The current Supreme Court justices took different paths to achieve their current esteemed positions. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in 2020, was appointed in 1993 and faced many challenges on her path to becoming a SCOTUS justice. She encountered sexism in her attempt to get clerkships as a female law graduate in the 1950s and received lower pay than her male colleagues when she taught at Rutgers Law School in the 1960s.
When Clarence Thomas was applying for jobs as a new law graduate, he found that some law firms did not take his Yale Juris doctorate degree seriously because the university had been trying to fulfill quotas of Black students at the time. Sonia Sotomayor spoke out in support of Hispanic rights as a student and as a judge, and experienced roadblocks when she was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals due to Republican beliefs that President Bill Clinton was trying to facilitate her nomination as the first Hispanic person in the Supreme Court. She was confirmed to the SCOTUS in 2009.
Clarence Thomas: Education
Clarence Thomas earned a B.A. in English from the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, where he helped create the Black Student Union. He obtained a J.D. from Yale in 1974, though law firms did not take his degree seriously when he was applying for jobs. He cited that law firms assumed that he got into the program because of the law school’s increase in its quota of Black students, and thus put less weight on LSAT scores and grades for those students.
Clarence Thomas: Early career life
After his admittance to the Missouri Bar in 1974, Thomas worked as assistant attorney general of Missouri under state Attorney General John Danforth and was the only African American on Danforth’s staff. After changing roles when Danforth was elected to the Senate in 1976, Thomas returned to work for him in the late ‘70s as a legislative assistant focusing on energy issues for the Senate Commerce Committee. Danforth would play an important role in endorsing Thomas as a Supreme Court justice.
In the early 1980s, Thomas took on the role of assistant secretary of education for the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education, and then as chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1982 to 1990. In the latter role, Thomas sought cases of individual discrimination rather than adhere to the commission’s habitual method of filing class-action discrimination lawsuits. He opined that Black leaders were all talk and no action in terms of the Reagan administration’s shortcomings and that they should have collaborated with the federal government to improve issues such as illiteracy and teen pregnancy.
Clarence Thomas: Before the Supreme Court
President George H. W. Bush nominated Thomas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 1989, despite Thomas having said he did not want to be a judge. Nevertheless, other African Americans working in government backed him, including Secretary of Transportation William Coleman. In 1991, shortly after Thurgood Marshall declared that he’d be retiring, President Bush nominated Thomas to replace him on the Supreme Court.
Some civil rights and feminist organizations were against Thomas’ appointment due in part to his condemnation of affirmative action, as well as apprehensions that he might have been against Roe v. Wade. After Thomas’ confirmation hearings ended, but before the Senate officially approved his nomination, Anita Hill accused Thomas of verbal sexual harassment in a leaked FBI interview. In reopened hearings, Thomas denied the allegations and maintained his right to privacy. The Judiciary Committee voted to send Thomas’ nomination to the Senate, and after further investigation with no substantial evidence of sexual harassment, the Senate confirmed Thomas to the Supreme Court in October 1991.
Stephen Breyer: Education
Before Stephen Breyer graduated from Harvard Law School with an LL.B. (a bachelor of laws degree) in 1964, he earned a bachelor of arts in philosophy from Stanford in ‘59 and studied philosophy, politics, and economics as a Marshall Scholar at Oxford’s Magdalen College. While at Harvard, Breyer worked as an editor for the Harvard Law Review and graduated with honors.
Stephen Breyer: Early career life
In 1964, Breyer clerked for Associate Justice Arthur Goldberg and later worked in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice as a special assistant to the assistant attorney general. In 1967 he began teaching at his alma mater, Harvard Law School, and later worked as an assistant prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force in 1973.
He served as special counsel, and later as chief counsel, to the Administrative Practices Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He collaborated with the committee’s chairman Edward M. Kennedy to execute the Airline Deregulation Act.
Stephen Breyer: Before the Supreme Court
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Breyer to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, where he later served as chief judge from 1990 to 1994. As a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 1985 to 1989, Breyer played an instrumental part in reshaping criminal sentencing procedures on the federal level, as well as creating the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Following the retirement of Harry Blackmun, President Bill Clinton nominated Breyer to the position of associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1994. He was confirmed the same year. As a Supreme Court judge, Breyer maintains a pragmatic approach to law and looks to “purpose and consequences” in interpreting laws. He has uniformly voted to support abortion rights and has largely deferred to Congress, hardly ever voting to reverse congressional legislation.
John Roberts: Education
Current Chief Justice John Roberts earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1976 and stayed on to obtain his J.D. in ‘79. In his undergraduate degree, he wrote a thesis paper on early 20th-century British liberalism. In law school, he worked as managing editor of the Harvard Law Review and as a law clerk.
John Roberts: Early career life
As a new law graduate, Roberts clerked for appellate Judge Henry Friendly and William Rehnquist, whom he succeeded on the Supreme Court. In the 1980s, Roberts served as special assistant to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith, and then as associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan. While working for the law firm Hogan & Hartson in the mid-1980s, Roberts carried out pro bono work for LGBTQ+ rights activists and prepped arguments for the 1996 case Romer v. Evans, which involved sexual orientation as related to state law.
In 1989, Roberts took on the role of principal deputy solicitor general under President George H. W. Bush. After three years as solicitor general, he returned to practicing law privately and taught law at Georgetown University. He was part of the team of lawyers that advised Gov. Jeb Bush during the 2000 presidential election recount in Florida.
John Roberts: Before the Supreme Court
In 2001, Roberts was nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) but was not confirmed until 2003 due to disagreements between the Bush administration and the majority Democratic Senate. As a Supreme Court judge, Roberts ruled over several significant cases, including Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which was a question of the legal validity of military tribunals.
In 2005, President George W. Bush initially nominated Roberts to the Supreme Court to fill the shoes of Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who had retired. However, upon the death of William Rehnquist later that year, Bush renominated Roberts to the role of chief justice. Regarding his judicial philosophy, Roberts likened judges to baseball umpires, saying “it’s my job to call the balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat.”
Samuel A. Alito Jr.: Education
Samuel Alito graduated from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1972. He then received his law degree from Yale in 1975, where he was editor of the Yale Law Journal. While at Princeton, Alito chaired a 1971 student conference called “The Boundaries of Privacy in American Society,” which, among other things, called for a statute and a court to govern national security surveillance, elimination of discrimination against gay people in hiring processes, and the decriminalization of sodomy. The extent to which the conference agenda mirrors Alito’s personal convictions is unknown.
Samuel A. Alito Jr.: Early career life
After graduating from law school, Alito clerked under Judge Leonard Garth in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. From the early to mid-1980s, he worked as Deputy Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General Rex E. Lee, under whom he argued 12 cases for the federal government in the Supreme Court. From 1987 to 1990, Alito served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, appointed by Ronald Reagan. In this role, he successfully prosecuted the 1988 case of an FBI agent who was shot in the field and prosecuted a sympathizer of the Japanese Red Army who was found with homemade bombs in his car at a New Jersey Turnpike service center.
Samuel A. Alito Jr.: Before the Supreme Court
From 1990 until his nomination to the Supreme Court, Alito worked as a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Although broadly conservative in his judicial approach, he handled rulings on each case differently.
As the son of an Italian immigrant, Alito was understanding of the issues of people he found similar to himself, exemplified in the case of Fatin v. INS, in which an Iranian woman was seeking asylum. In 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Alito to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court, and he was confirmed the following year. Alito still rules based on the case at hand, though he frequently veers on the side of conservatism.
Sonia Sotomayor: Education
The first Hispanic and third woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor earned an undergraduate degree from Princeton, where she co-chaired the Puerto Rican activist group Acción Puertorriqueña. As part of this group, she accused the Princeton administration of bias against Puerto Ricans in their hiring process. In the same vein of Puerto Rican rights, she also wrote a senior thesis on Puerto Rican journalist Luis Muñoz Marín. In pursuing her J.D. from Yale, she was editor of the Yale Law Review and published a notable article on how statehood would impact Puerto Rico’s mineral rights.
Sonia Sotomayor: Early career life
Freshly out of law school in 1979, Sotomayor landed a position as an assistant district attorney under New York District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. In the wake of rampant New York crime rates, she dealt with substantial caseloads including shoplifting, police brutality, and murder. In terms of serious felonies, Sotomayor said, “No matter how liberal I am, I am still outraged by crimes of violence,”, especially for violent crime within the Hispanic community.
In her role as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, she took anti-government stances in numerous cases and was known for administering heavy sentences in criminal cases. In the notable case Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Committee, Inc., Sotomayor’s preliminary injunction against Major League Baseball barred it from executing a new collective bargaining agreement, thus putting a stop to the months-long 1994 baseball strike.
Sonia Sotomayor: Before the Supreme Court
In 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated Sotomayor to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. However, Senate Republicans delayed her confirmation process because they believed that Clinton had an ulterior motive of positioning her for a Supreme Court nomination as the first Hispanic judge. Sotomayor was confirmed to the Court of Appeals in 1998.
As a judge, she was described as a centrist by the ABA Journal. As a member of the Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, Sotomayor presented the annual Judge Mario G. Olmos Memorial Lecture at the University of California, Berkeley in 2001, in which she talked in part about the history of women and minorities who rose to become federal judges.
In the 2002 abortion case Center for Reproductive Law and Policy v. Bush, Sotomayor defended the Bush administration’s enactment of the Mexico City Policy, detailing that the U.S. would refrain from subsidizing nongovernmental organizations that perform or advocate for abortions in other countries. President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor to the Supreme Court in 2009, and she was confirmed the same year.
Elena Kagan: Education
Elena Kagan graduated from Princeton in 1981, received an M.Phil. from Oxford’s Worcester College as a Daniel M. Sachs Graduating Fellow in ‘83, and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School in ‘86, graduating with honors. At Princeton, Kagan was the editorial chair of The Daily Princetonian, and in collaboration with several other students, wrote a Declaration of the Campaign for a Democratic University, which detailed a need to retool university governance on a core level.
At Worcester College, Kagan wrote a thesis on “The Development and Erosion of the American Exclusionary Rule: A Study in Judicial Method.” At Harvard, she worked as supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review. She was described as being good with people and gained the respect of everyone despite divisive political views on campus.
Elena Kagan: Early career life
In 1987 Kagan clerked for Judge Abner J. Mikva on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and a year later clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the U.S. Supreme Court. As a lawyer for the D.C. firm Williams & Connolly, Kagan worked on five lawsuits rooted in issues of the First Amendment and media law. In the early 1990s, she took a job as an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School, where she published an influential law review article in which she argued that the SCOTUS should investigate governmental motives when dealing with cases concerning the First Amendment. Two years after she got her assistant professorship, Joe Biden appointed her as special counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she played a part in the confirmation hearings of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Elena Kagan: Before the Supreme Court
Prior to her nomination to the Supreme Court, Kagan worked as associate White House Counsel for President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1996, as deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy, and as deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council. In the latter role, Kagan co-wrote a memo asking that Clinton back a ban on late-term abortions.
After returning to academia for a decade, Kagan was nominated to the position of solicitor general by Barack Obama, and became the first woman in the role. Though considered to be part of the liberal wing of the SCOTUS, Kagan veers on the moderate side. Obama nominated her to the Supreme Court in 2010, and she was confirmed the same year.
Neil Gorsuch: Education
Neil Gorsuch received his B.A. in political science from Columbia in 1988, followed by a J.D. from Harvard in 1991, and finally, a Ph.D. in law from Oxford in 2004. While at Columbia, he wrote for the Columbia Daily Spectator and co-founded an alternative student newspaper called The Fed, as well as the magazine The Morningside Review. At Harvard, Gorsuch worked as an editor for the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy and was described as conservative amidst a student population of “ardent liberals,” according to the Boston Globe’s Michael Levenson.
Neil Gorsuch: Early career life
After completing a judicial clerkship for SCOTUS Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy, Gorsuch practiced commercial law at Kellogg Huber, where he worked on securities fraud, antitrust, and contracts cases. In the case of Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v Broudo, Gorsuch communicated that he believed that securities fraud litigation is burdensome to the economy.
He also worked as principal deputy to Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on civil litigation cases, as well as terror litigation related to President Bush’s War on Terror. Generally, Gorsuch is a constitutional originalist, which is to say that he believes that the constitution should be deciphered as it was originally written.
Neil Gorsuch: Before the Supreme Court
Before his confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice, Gorsuch spent 11 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. In this role, in the case of Hobby Lobby Stores v. Sebelius, Gorsuch wrote a concurrence—or an attempt to prove both guilty action and guilty mind—when the en banc circuit determined that the Affordable Care Act law requiring employers to provide their employees with health insurance that partially covers contraception violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Politically, Gorsuch supports a broad interpretation of freedom of religion. David Savage of the Los Angeles Times described him as “a libertarian who is quick to oppose unchecked government power.” President Donald Trump nominated Gorsuch to the Supreme Court in February 2017, and while the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination, Democrats filibustered until Republicans broke it with a simple majority vote and confirmed Gorsuch to the SCOTUS.
Brett Kavanaugh: Education
Brett Kavanaugh received both his B.A. and J.D. from Yale, the latter in 1990. During his time at Yale Law School, Kavanaugh was an editor for the Yale Law Journal. He reportedly said during his law school confirmation hearing testimony, “I got into Yale Law School. That’s the number-one law school in the country. I had no connections there. I got there by busting my tail in college.”
Brett Kavanaugh: Early career life
In his early years in law, Kavanaugh worked as a clerk for judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Third and Ninth Circuits. In the early 1990s, he completed a year-long fellowship with U.S. solicitor general at the time, Ken Starr, with whom he returned to work years later as an associate counselor in the Office of the Independent Counsel. In this role, Kavanaugh helmed the writing of the 1998 Starr Report to Congress, which detailed the scandal involving Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
In late 2000, Kavanaugh became part of George W. Bush’s legal team that strove to stop the recount of Florida ballots in the controversial 2000 presidential election between Bush and Al Gore. From 2003 to 06, he worked as an assistant to President George W. Bush and White House Staff Secretary.
Brett Kavanaugh: Before the Supreme Court
In 2003, President Bush nominated Kavanaugh to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but his confirmation was delayed for three years because Senatorial Democrats believed him to be too biased. Kavanaugh asserted his conservative views on a host of important issues, including abortion and employment discrimination, throughout his 12 years as a judge on the appeals court.
Following President Trump’s nomination of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in July 2018, Christine Blasey Ford publicly stated that Kavanaugh had sexually molested her when they were in high school. During Senate Judiciary Committee hearings in September 2018, Kavanaugh vehemently denied the allegations. After an FBI investigation yielded no substantial evidence to validate Ford’s claim, the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh in a 50-48 vote on Oct. 6, 2018.
Amy Coney Barrett: Education
Amy Coney Barrett attended Rhodes College, a liberal arts school in Memphis, Tennessee, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. She graduated in 1994 with a bachelor of arts in English; she also won the awards for “Most Outstanding English Major” and “Most Outstanding Senior Thesis.” Barrett went on to attend Notre Dame Law School. During her time there, she served as an executive editor of the Notre Dame Law Review. When she graduated in 1997, she was awarded the Hoynes Prize, which is given to the student with the “best record in scholarship, deportment, and achievement.”
Amy Coney Barrett: Early career life
After graduating from Notre Dame, Barrett clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1997 to 1998, and then for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia the following year. When that clerkship ended in 1999, Barrett went into private practice, joining the D.C. law firm Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin. In 2001, she joined George Washington University Law School as an adjunct professor, and then, in 2002, she returned to her alma mater Notre Dame where she was eventually named a Professor of Law in 2010.
Amy Coney Barrett: Before the Supreme Court
In 2017, President Trump nominated Barrett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. During the hearings on her nomination, Barrett was questioned about a 1998 law review article that she co-wrote arguing that Catholic judges should recuse themselves from death penalty cases in some instances due to their moral opposition to capital punishment. Democratic senators’ skepticism surrounding Barrett’s ability to separate her faith from legal decisions came under fire from religious conservatives, while LGBTQ+ civil rights organization Lambda Legal cosigned a letter opposing Barrett’s nomination, also concerned she wouldn’t be able to separate her religion from rulings on LGBTQ+ issues. Ultimately, Barrett was confirmed by the Senate.
While on the Seventh Circuit, Barrett dissented after the majority upheld the district court’s preliminary injunction against the “public charge” rule, an effort by the Trump administration to raise the standard for obtaining green cards and immigrant visas. She also dissented when the court upheld the federal law preventing felons from owning firearms.
In September 2020, Trump nominated Barrett to the Supreme Court. While largely supported by Republicans, Democrats opposed Barrett’s nomination on the grounds that they’d be filling a seat on the bench while an election was underway in many U.S. states. The nomination was especially contested because, in 2016, the Senate Republican majority refused to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland more than 10 months before the end of Obama’s presidency. By comparison, when Trump nominated Barrett, only four months remained in his term. The confirmation hearings went on, however, and Barrett was confirmed as an associate justice of the SCOTUS on Oct. 27, 2020.
Ketanji Brown Jackson: Education
As a high school senior in Miami, Ketanji Brown Jackson’s guidance counselor reportedly told her to set her sights a bit lower when she expressed interest in applying to Harvard University. She rejected that advice and was accepted into Harvard. There, Jackson studied government and the decorated high-school orator also pursued the arts. She was a member of the student improv group On Thin Ice and took drama classes, once working with fellow student Matt Damon as his scene partner. In 1992, Jackson graduated from Harvard with a bachelor of arts degree.
After a year-long stint as a reporter and researcher at Time, Jackson returned to Cambridge to attend Harvard Law School. She served as a supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated with her J.D. in 1996.
Ketanji Brown Jackson: Early career life
Fresh out of Harvard Law School, Jackson held three clerkships: one for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, another for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and then—after a year in private practice (at the same private law firm where Barrett worked)—for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, whose seat she is filling.
Jackson then returned to private practice from 2000 to 2003, working at Goodwin Procter in Boston and at what is now known as Feinberg Rozen in New York. In the two years that followed, she became an assistant special counsel to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and then, from 2005 to 2007, a federal public defender in Washington D.C., handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. From 2007 to 2010, Jackson worked as an appellate specialist at Morrison & Foerster in Washington D.C.
Ketanji Brown Jackson: Before the Supreme Court
Jackson left Morrison & Foerster in 2010 to become vice-chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, nominated by Obama in 2009. During her time in the position, which she held until 2014, she reduced sentences for drug-related offenses. In 2012, Obama nominated Jackson to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; she was confirmed in 2013. In one of her most high-profile cases, Jackson ruled against the Trump administration’s challenge to subpoena former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify in the impeachment inquiry against the president. One portion of Jackson’s opinion made headlines: “Stated simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings,” she wrote. “This means that they do not have subjects, bound by loyalty or blood, whose destiny they are entitled to control.”
Jackson moved one step closer to the SCOTUS in 2021 when President Joe Biden nominated her to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Less than a year later, Biden announced that Jackson was his nominee for associate justice of the Supreme Court. After contentious hearings, Jackson was confirmed by the Senate on April 7, 2022. She is the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court as well as the high court’s first former public defender.
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PARIS (AP) — France’s presidential race involves one frontrunner, centrist incumbent Emmanuel Macron, and eleven challengers from the far left to the far right. The two top candidates in Sunday’s first round qualify for the April 24 runoff.
Here’s a look at the main contenders’ key proposals.
EMMANUEL MACRON, 44, centrist incumbent, head of the Republic on the Move party
Ukraine: Macron has been at the forefront of international talks on supporting Ukraine amid warand imposing sanctions on Russia. Macron vows to keep investing in the French military and “significantly” reinforce European armed forces’ capacities and cooperation.
Economy: Macron promises “full employment,” after the jobless rate decreased during his 2017-2022 term to its lowest level in a generation. He wants to progressively raise the retirement age from 62 to 65 and boost the minimum monthly pension.
Energy: He pledges to build six new-generation nuclear reactors, develop solar energy and wind farms at sea.
Immigration: Macron pushes for strengthening external borders of the European passport-free area and creating a new force to better control national borders. He vows to speed up processing of asylum and residence permit applications and to deport those who aren’t eligible.
MARINE LE PEN, 53, far-right head of the National Rally party
Ukraine: Marine Le Pen has cultivated ties with Moscow, receiving a loan of 9 million euros from a Russian bank in 2014 and meeting with Putin in 2017. She acknowledged Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “partially” changed her views about Putin, saying he was “wrong.” She says she supports the Ukrainian people and refugees must be welcomed.
Immigration: Le Pen’s plans includeending family reunification policies, restricting social benefits to the French only, and deporting foreigners who stay unemployed for over a year and other migrants who entered illegally.
Economy and energy: She promises to cut taxes on energy and essential goods. She wants to maintain the minimum retirement age at 62 and raise the minimum pension. She vowed to dismantle windfarms and invest in nuclear and hydro energy.
Muslim-related policies: Le Pen promised a law banning Muslim headscarves in all public places, and outlawing events and financing considered to be spreading “Islamism.”
JEAN-LUC MELENCHON, 70, far left
Ukraine: Mélenchon used to call Russia a “partner,” even as European governments were scrambling to find ways to avert a Russian invasion of Ukraine. He now supports the Ukrainian “resistance” and Russians who fight what he calls “dictatorship” in their own country.
Economy: Mélenchon promises toraise France’s minimum wage and minimum pension, and lower the retirement age to 60. He wants to re-establish a wealth tax.
Climate and energy: He vows to inscribe a “green rule” in the Constitution which calls for not using more resources than nature can replenish, and putting an end to intensive farming. He seeks to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 65% in 2030 — instead of the current goal of 40%. He wants the state to lock in energy and food prices, and promises to phase out nuclear energy and aim for 100% renewable energy instead.
ERIC ZEMMOUR, 63, far-right former TV pundit who has been repeatedly convicted of hate speech
Ukraine: Zemmour initially was a supporter of an “alliance” with Russia, and once wished aloud for a “French Putin.” That was before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which he condemned. He initially said he would prefer Ukrainian refugees to stay in Poland, but later supported granting them visas if they have ties with France. Zemmour wants France to pull out of NATO’s military command.
Immigration: He wants asylum status to be restricted to no more than 100 people per year — down from about 54,000 last year. He would end welfare benefits for non-European foreigners, outlaw immigration for family reunification, create a coast guard military force to stop arrivals by sea, and deport any migrants who enter without permission.
Muslim-related policies: Zemmour wants a ban on wearing Muslim headscarves in all public spaces, a ban on building big mosques and on foreign financing of the Muslim faith. He proposes restricting the names that parents can give their newborns, de facto banning many names used by French Muslims.
Economy and energy: He promised to cut taxes on businesses, low-income workers, retired people with small pensions and to give families a bonus for children born in rural areas. He wants to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. He said he would put an end to all windfarms and vowed to develop nuclear energy.
VALERIE PECRESSE, 54, candidate of conservative The Republicans party
Ukraine: Pécresse denounced Putin’s invasion and pushed for firm sanctions on Russia.
Muslim-related policies: She wants a ban on Muslim headscarves for young girls and in sports clubs. She also wants to ban the burkini, a swimsuit worn by conservative Muslims to cover the entire body, from swimming pools.
Immigration: Pécresse plans to establish immigration quotas. Housing and family benefits would be granted to foreigners only five years after they arrive legally in the country. No residency permit would be provided to those who entered without prior permission.
Economy and energy: She promises to raise low and middle-income workers’ salaries by 10% and to cut taxes on businesses and workers. She wants to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65 by 2030. She vows to develop nuclear energy and renewable energy, but with restrictions on wind farms.
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Follow AP’s France election coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/french-election-2022
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s border guard agency says that about 2,200 Ukrainian men of fighting age have been detained so far while trying to leave the country in violation of martial law.
The agency said Sunday that some of them have used forged documents and others tried to bribe border guards to get out of the country.
It said some have been found dead while trying to cross the Carpathian mountains in adverse weather, without specifying the number.
Under martial law, Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 are barred from leaving the country so that they can be called up to fight.
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
— Ukraine digs in to fight Russia’s looming eastern offensive
— Analysis: War, economy could weaken Putin’s place as leader
— Zelenskyy, in AP interview, says he seeks peace despite atrocities
— Poland-Ukraine ties seen as target of Russian disinformation
— War Crimes Watch: A devastating walk through Bucha’s horror
— Go to https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine for more coverage
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
WARSAW, Poland — Sirens have sounded in some Polish cities to mark the anniversary of a 2010 plane crash that killed the country’s president, despite protests that their sound would be unnecessarily traumatic for refugees from the war in Ukraine.
The sirens early Sunday were intended to add to the significance and the plaintive character of observances honoring the late President Lech Kaczynski, the first lady and 94 other prominent Poles killed 12 years ago in the crash of the presidential plane in Russia. Kaczynski was the twin of Jaroslaw Kaczynski — the leader of the main governing Law and Justice party.
Provincial governors ignored calls not to use the sirens out of concern for refugees from neighboring Ukraine, traumatized by air raid alarms. Authorities sent text messages to refugees’ phones that the sirens would mean no danger.
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KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military says Russia has been beefing up its forces and trying to probe Ukrainian defenses.
The Ukrainian military command said Sunday that the Russian troops have continued attempts to break Ukrainian defenses near Izyum, southeast of Kharkiv. It reported that Russia was sending reinforcements to Izyum while continuing the shelling of Kharkiv.
The military added that the Russians also continued their attempts to take control of Mariupol, the Sea of Azov port that has been besieged by Russian forces for nearly 1 ½ months.
After Russia’s attempt to capture Kyiv and other big cities in northeastern Ukraine quickly failed, Ukrainian and Western officials expect Moscow to launch a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces for eight years.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he focused on the need to track down perpetrators of war crimes in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Zelenskyy said on Twitter that in Sunday’s call “we emphasized that all perpetrators of war crimes must be identified and punished.”
Ukraine has accused Russia of atrocities against civilians in Bucha and other places near Kyiv, where hundreds of slaughtered civilians, many with their hands bound and signs of torture, were found after Russian troops retreated.
Zelenskyy also said he and Scholz “discussed anti-Russian sanctions, defense and financial support for Ukraine.”
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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has opened Holy Week with a call for an Easter truce in Ukraine to make room for a negotiated peace, highlighting the need for leaders to “make some sacrifices for the good of the people.”
Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass before crowds in St. Peter’s Square for the first time since the pandemic, Pope Francis called for “weapons to be laid down to begin an Easter truce, not to reload weapons and resume fighting, no! A truce to reach peace through real negotiations.”
Francis did not refer directly to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the reference was clear. He has repeatedly denounced the war and the suffering brought to innocent civilians.
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HELSINKI — Finland says that a shipment of art works from Russian museums has been returned to Russia after it was seized under European Union sanctions against Moscow.
Finland’s customs service said late Saturday that the Foreign Ministry granted a special permit to return the consignment with a total insured value of around 42 million euros ($46 million). It said that trucks carrying the art works from the Hermitage Museum and the Pavlovsk State Museum in St. Petersburg, among others, left Finnish territory on Saturday afternoon.
The shipment was seized at the Vaalimaa border crossing at the beginning of April. The works were en route to Russia after loan to museums in Europe and Japan. Experts say that art works loaned from Russia typically travel overland via Finland.
Russia has demanded the return of all works on loan to “unfriendly” nations that imposed sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine.
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MOSCOW — The Russian military says it has struck Ukrainian air defense batteries in the country’s south and east.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Sunday that the military used air-launched missiles to hit Ukraine’s S-300 air defense missile systems in Starobohdanivka in the southern Mykolaiv region and at an air base in Chuhuiv in the eastern Kharkiv region.
Konashenkov also said that sea-launched cruise missiles destroyed the headquarters of a Ukrainian military unit near Zvonetske in the Dnipro region.
The Russian military claims couldn’t be independently verified.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says more civilians are expected to leave Mariupol Sunday in their personal vehicles.
Evacuations are also planned from Berdyansk, Tokmak and Enerhodar in the south and Sieverierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Popasna and Rubizhne in the east.
Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Sea of Azov, has been besieged by Russian forces for nearly 1 ½ months, cut from food, water and power supplies and pummeled by relentless bombardment that has killed at least 5,000, according to local officials.
Ukrainian authorities have urged civilians in the east to evacuate in the face of an imminent Russian offensive. They accused Russia of killing 52 people on Friday at the train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk as they were preparing to evacuate.
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GENEVA — The U.N. refugee agency says the number of people who have left Ukraine since the beginning of the war has reached 4.5 million.
A regular update Sunday of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees’ online portal on numbers of refugees fleeing Ukraine since Feb. 24 brought the total to some 4.504 million.
About 2.6 million of those fled at least initially to Poland and more than 686,000 to Romania. However, UNHCR notes that there are very few border controls within the European Union and it believes “a large number of people” have moved on from the first country they arrived in.
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LONDON — Britain’s Ministry of Defense says that Russia’s armed forces are seeking to respond to mounting losses by boosting troop numbers with personnel who had been discharged from military service since 2012.
In an intelligence update on Twitter, the ministry also said Sunday that the Russian military’s efforts to “generate more fighting power” also include trying to recruit from Trans-Dniester, a breakaway region in Moldova that borders Ukraine.
Russia maintains some 1,500 troops in the region, which is not internationally recognized.
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LONDON (AP) — For many in the U.K., the pandemic may as well be over.
Mask requirements have been dropped. Free mass testing is a thing of the past. And for the first time since spring 2020, people can go abroad for holidays without ordering tests or filling out lengthy forms.
That sense of freedom is widespread even as infections soaredin Britain in March, driven by the milder but more transmissible omicron BA.2 variant that’s rapidly spreading around Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere.
The situation in the U.K. may portend what lies ahead for other countries as they ease coronavirus restrictions.
France and Germany have seen similar spikes in infections in recent weeks, and the number of hospitalizations in the U.K. and France has again climbed — though the number of deaths per day remains well below levels seen earlier in the pandemic.
In the U.S.,more and more Americans are testing at home, so official case numbers are likely a vast undercount. The roster of those newly infected include actors and politicians, who are tested regularly. Cabinet members, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Broadway actors and the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut have all tested positive.
Britain stands out in Europe because it ditched all mitigation policies in February, including mandatory self-isolation for those infected. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conservative government is determined to stick to its “living with COVID” plan, but experts disagree on whether the country is coping well.
Some scientists argue it’s the right time to accept that “living with COVID” means tolerating a certain level of disruption and deaths, much like we do for seasonal flu. Others believe that Britain’s government lifted restrictions too quickly and too soon. They warned that deaths and hospital admissions could keep rising because more people over 55 — those who are most likely to get seriously ill from COVID-19 — are now getting infected despite high levels of vaccination.
Hospitals are again under strain, both from patients with the virus and huge numbers of staff off sick, said National Health Service medical director Stephen Powis.
“Blinding ourselves to this level of harm does not constitute living with a virus infection — quite the opposite,” said Stephen Griffin, a professor in medicine at the University of Leeds. “Without sufficient vaccination, ventilation, masking, isolation and testing, we will continue to ‘live with’ disruption, disease and sadly, death, as a result.”
Others, like Paul Hunter, a medicine professor at the University of East Anglia, are more supportive of the government’s policies.
“We’re still not at the point where (COVID-19) is going to be least harmful … but we’re over the worst,” he said. Once a high vaccination rate is achieved there is little value in maintaining restrictions such as social distancing because “they never ultimately prevent infections, only delay them,” he argued.
Britain’s official statistics agency estimated that almost 5 million U.K. residents, or 1 in 13, had the virus in late March, the most it had reported. Separately, the REACT study from London’s Imperial College said its data showed that the country’s infection levels in March were 40% higher than the first omicron peak in January.
Infection rates are so high that airlines had to cancel flightsduring the busy two-week Easter break because too many workers were calling in sick.
France and Germany have seen similar surges as restrictions eased in most European countries. More than 100,000 people in France were testing positive every day despite a sharp dropoff in testing, and the number of virus patients in intensive care rose 22% over the past week.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government, keen to encourage voter turnout in April elections, is not talking about any new restrictions.
In Germany, infection levels have drifted down from a recent peak. But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach backed off a decision to end mandatory self-isolation for infected people just two days after it was announced. He said the plan would send a “completely wrong” signal that “either the pandemic is over or the virus has become significantly more harmless than was assumed in the past.”
In the U.S., outbreaks at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University are bringing back mask requirements to those campuses as officials seek out quarantine space.
Across Europe, only Spain and Switzerland have joined the U.K. in lifting self-isolation requirements for at least some infected people.
But many European countries have eased mass testing, which will make it much harder to know how prevalent the virus is. Britain stopped distributing free rapid home tests this month.
Julian Tang, a flu virologist at the University of Leicester, said that while it’s important to have a surveillance program to monitor for new variants and update the vaccine, countries cope with flu without mandatory restrictions or mass testing.
“Eventually, COVID-19 will settle down to become more endemic and seasonal, like flu,” Tang said. “Living with COVID, to me, should mimic living with flu.”
Cambridge University virologist Ravindra Gupta is more cautious. Mortality rates for COVID-19 are still far higher than seasonal flu and the virus causes more severe disease, he warned. He would have preferred “more gentle easing of restrictions.”
“There’s no reason to believe that a new variant would not be more transmissible or severe,” he added.
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Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Angela Charlton in Paris, Barry Hatton in Lisbon and other AP journalists around Europe contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
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| 2022-04-10T14:34:17
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — The Allen County Public Library is looking to expand branches and even add a new one this year.
The Allen County Public Library’s Facilities Master Plan passed unanimously at the Board of Trustees meeting. Part of the plan is to build a new branch in Huntertown, bringing the number of libraries in the county up to 15.
The plan, costing between $112 million and $118 million, includes renovations to a number of branches and replacement of others. There will be two public meetings on April 21 and 28 to discuss the plans further.
The goal is to make sure the county is up-to-date and able to accommodate the areas it services.
Something also new this year is geared toward children ages 17 and younger. Since January, the library has no longer charged a late fee for any books that are past the due date. Executive Director Susan Baier says this change has brought a lot of families back to the library, and she hopes to make this happen for everyone in the near future.
The library is always looking for help, but especially this year with the new and returning programs this summer. Anyone interested in joining the library staff can visit the website for more information.
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https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/allen-county-public-library-looking-forward-to-changes-this-summer/
| 2022-04-10T14:34:25
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – A sensory friendly collaboration is heading to the Summit City this month…. it’s, “Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty with the Fort Wayne Ballet!”
Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty with the Fort Wayne Ballet premieres at the Arts United Center on April 22nd, with shows following on the 23rd and the 24th.
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| 2022-04-10T14:34:31
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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexicans vote Sunday on whether their popular president should end his six-year term barely midway through or continue to the end.
Strangely, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was the one who pushed for the first-ever referendum of its kind in Mexico.
It was considered a safe bet. The referendum is only binding if at least 40% of the country’s electorate votes — something experts believe unlikely — and López Obrador has maintained approval ratings around 60%.
With that in mind critics have decried the exercise as a waste of money — almost $80 million — and just a way for López Obrador to rally his base midway through his time in office. For someone known as an eternal campaigner the expected reaffirmation of support makes sense, but for a president outspoken about austerity it raised questions.
Some in the opposition have called for voters to boycott. López Obrador’s Morena party has been active in encouraging the president’s base to vote. The president has faced criticism that government officials and resources have promoted the referendum.
How many voters will turn out has been the overriding question.
Patricio Morales, an analyst at Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, said the lack of awareness about the referendum and potential disinterest among voters could weigh on turnout.
He noted that only 7% of voters participated in another referendum last year asking whether former presidents should be prosecuted.
The referendum fueled a feud between López Obrador and Mexico’s respected elections authority. Lawmakers from his party cut the National Electoral Institute’s budget and the institute said it didn’t have the money to pull off the referendum originally estimated to cost estimate more than $191 million. It refused to move ahead until the Supreme Court ruled that it must. Adjustments lowered expected the cost to $78.2 million.
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| 2022-04-10T14:34:37
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(NEXSTAR) – President Biden has not only delayed student loan payments for another few months, but he’s also given some borrowers a bit of ‘forgiveness.’
The U.S. Department of Education described the additional pause as a good way for borrowers to plan for payments to begin again, which can help reduce “the risk of delinquency and defaults after restart.” For those who have already been impacted by delinquency and default, there’s an added bonus – you’re getting a “fresh start.”
Biden’s pause includes millions of federal loan borrowers having their delinquent or default status erased, allowing them to “reenter repayment in good standing,” the Education Department explained in a Wednesday release.
What does it mean to be delinquent and in default?
If you are just one day late on making a payment on your student loans, your loan becomes past due, otherwise known as delinquent, according to the Federal Student Aid Office. Until you pay that past due amount – or you make an arrangement like entering deferment or forbearance, or change your repayment plan – you remain in delinquency.
Once you’re delinquent for 90 days or more, your status is reported to three major national credit bureaus by your loan servicer. If you remain in delinquency, your loan may go into default (the exact time when your loan moves from delinquency to default depends on the loan you have).
There are many consequences of defaulting on your federal student loans, including the entire balance of your loan and interest that has accrued becoming immediately due; being taken to court; and losing the ability to choose a repayment plan, the Education Department explains. Some borrowers may also be subject to wage garnishment or the seizure of critical benefits like Social Security, according to Business Insider.
How many people are impacted?
More than 7 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans, according to Politico, which first reported the Education Department was considering the “fresh start” plan in October.
Even though borrowers in default will now have that status removed – there’s no clear timeline on when exactly that status will change for individuals – some may still miss payments when the pause lifts in September.
In late March, an analysis found 7.8 million borrowers – nearly one in three – were at high risk of missing loan payments if the pause ended in May. Authors of the analysis assigned borrowers to this group of “possible strugglers” if they were delinquent or in default on any loan during 2019 (the year before the pause); were in default on loans that were ineligible for the pause; if a new collection or bankruptcy appeared on their credit report during the pause; or if their most recent credit score was considered “deep subprime,” meaning it had fallen below 580.
“During the pause, we will continue our preparations to give borrowers a fresh start and to ensure that all borrowers have access to repayment plans that meet their financial situations and needs,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
What about actual student loan forgiveness?
Before Biden announced the fourth freeze on student loans, 96 lawmakers – 21 Senators and 75 members of the House – called on him to “cancel student debt now,” saying it would “provide long-term benefits to individuals and the economy, helping families buy their first homes, open a small business, or invest in their retirement. More broadly, canceling student debt would add tens of billions of dollars in GDP growth.”
During his campaign, Biden supported forgiving at least $10,000 in federal student loans per person but didn’t mention any cancellation in his statement on the latest pause. But, Education Secretary Cardona recently told NPR that “the conversations around loan forgiveness continue to happen.”
There is, however, confusion regarding Biden’s power to cancel student loans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said he lacks legal authority, instead commenting “That would be an act of Congress.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, on the other hand, has argued Biden could do it under the same legal provision Trump used to delay payments and interest accrual at the start of the pandemic, The Hill reports.
Earlier this year, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “We’re still looking at administrative options, but Congress can also send the president a bill that would provide $10,000 in debt relief, and he’d be happy to sign that bill.”
According to The Hill, Biden requested a memo from the Department of Education on his authority to forgive student debt through an executive order a year ago, but the administration hasn’t announced whether that memo is complete.
Still, there are thousands of Americans already eligible for some student loan forgiveness through various federal programs. That includes those working in specific industries and nearly 100,000 impacted by changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
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| 2022-04-10T14:34:44
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis opened Holy Week Sunday with a call for an Easter truce in Ukraine to make room for a negotiated peace, highlighting the need for leaders to “make some sacrifices for the good of the people.”
Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass before crowds in St. Peter’s Square for the first time since the pandemic, Pope Francis called for “weapons to be laid down to begin an Easter truce, not to reload weapons and resume fighting, no! A truce to reach peace through real negotiations.”
Francis did not refer directly to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the reference was clear, and he has repeatedly denounced the war and the suffering brought to innocent civilians.
During the traditional Sunday blessing following Palm Sunday Mass, the pontiff said leaders should be “willing to make some sacrifices for the good of the people.”
“In fact, what a victory would that be, who plants a flag under a pile of rubble?”
During his Palm Sunday homily, the pontiff denounced “the folly of war” that leads people to commit “senseless acts of cruelty.”
“When we resort to violence … we lose sight of why we are in the world and even end up committing senseless acts of cruelty. We see this in the folly of war, where Christ is crucified yet another time,” he said.
Francis lamented “the unjust death of husbands and sons” … “refugees fleeing bombs” … “young people deprived of a future” … and “soldiers sent to kill their brothers and sisters.”
After two years of celebrating Palm Sunday Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica without a crowd due to pandemic distancing measures, the solemn celebration returned to the square outside. Tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists clutched olive branches and braided palms emblematic of the ceremony that recalls Jesus’ return to Jerusalem.
Traditionally, the pope leads a Palm Sunday procession through St. Peter’s Square before celebrating Mass. Francis has been suffering from a strained ligament in his right knee that has caused him to limp, and he was driven in a black car to the altar, which he then reached with the help of an aide. He left the Mass on the open-top popemobile, waving to the faithful in the piazza and along part of the via della Conciliazione.
Palm Sunday opens Holy Week leading up to Easter, which this year falls on April 17, and features the Good Friday Way of the Cross Procession.
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| 2022-04-10T14:34:50
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ISLAMABAD (AP) — The ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a parliamentary no-confidence vote early Sunday set Pakistan on an uncertain political path, with Khan calling on supporters to take to the streets in protest and the political opposition preparing to install his replacement.
Khan was brought down after a day of drama and often vitriolic remarks. His supporters accused Washington of orchestrating his ouster and his party walked out of Parliament shortly before the vote. In the end, 174 lawmakers in the 342-seat Parliament voted to depose him, two more than the required simple majority.
Khan’s successor is to be elected and sworn in by Parliament on Monday. The leading contender is Shahbaz Sharif, a brother of disgraced former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Shahbaz Sharif heads the largest party in a diverse alliance of opposition factions that span the spectrum from the left to radically religious. Khan’s nominee for prime minister will be his foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Khan’s ouster comes amid his cooling relations with the powerful military and an economy struggling with high inflation and a plummeting Pakistani rupee. The opposition has charged Khan’s government with economic mismanagement.
Khan has claimed the U.S. worked behind the scenes to bring him down, purportedly because of Washington’s displeasure over his independent foreign policy choices, which often favor China and Russia. He has occasionally defied America and stridently criticized America’s post 9/11 war on terror. Khan said America was deeply disturbed by his visit to Russia and his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24, the start of the devastating war in Ukraine.
The U.S. State Department has denied his allegations.
Elizabeth Threlkeld, a Pakistan expert at the U.S.-based The Stimson Center, said that even as prime minister, Khan often played the role of opposition leader.
“His removal would see him to a role he knows well, armed with a narrative of victimhood from unfounded claims of international interference,” she said. “His base will remain loyal, though I expect both his controversial attempt to remain in power and reduced military backing will lose him less committed supporters.”
Khan would seem to have few options going forward.
General elections are not scheduled before August 2023. Even if the new prime minister favors early elections, this would likely not happen before October. The Pakistan Election Commission, which oversees polls, told the Supreme Court last week it had still to finish re-aligning constituencies in line with the results of a 2017 census before polls could be held.
In the aftermath of Sunday’s vote, giant steel containers stacked on top of each other blocked main roads leading to Parliament and to the diplomatic enclave in the capital of Islamabad. Khan has called on his supporters to gather late Sunday, after the end of the daily dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Wilson Center, predicted a turbulent time ahead for Pakistan.
“Khan’s defeat would also leave Pakistan a bitterly partisan and divided place. He has not only intensified political rivalries, he has also defied and alienated key entities like the Army Chief and Pakistan’s foreign office,” said Kugelman. “It will take time for the country to pick up the pieces, and the coming months will be politically turbulent.”
Sunday’s vote capped a week-long constitutional crisis that had mesmerized the nation. It began last Sunday when Khan sought to sidestep the no confidence vote by dissolving Parliament and calling early elections, It was then left to the Supreme Court to sort, eventually ruling to reinstate Parliament and demand the vote be he.
Khan has won international praise for his handling of the COVID pandemic opting for so called “smart lockdowns” where outbreaks occurred rather than countrywide closures that helped protect some industries like the construction sector. His reputation for fighting corruption has brought a record $21 billion in deposits from overseas Pakistanis.
But he has not been able to overcome an increasingly strained relationship with the army, which has ruled Pakistan directly for more than half its 75-year history and indirectly from the sidelines when civilian governments ruled.
Khan’s opponents say the army helped him win the 2018 elections after it had fallen out with Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted of corruption after being named in the so-called Panama Papers. These papers are a collection of leaked secret financial documents showing how some of the world’s richest hide their money and involving a global law firm based in Panama.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court disqualified Sharif from holding office. He lives in London in self-imposed exile after being convicted in a Pakistani court of corruption. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Fissures in Khan’s relationship with the army began last November after he squabbled with the powerful Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa over the appointment of the new intelligence chief.
Last weekend, Bajwa appeared to distance himself from Khan’s anti-U.S. attacks saying Pakistan wants good relations with Washington, its largest export trading partner and with China. He condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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Follow Kathy Gannon on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Kathygannon
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| 2022-04-10T14:34:56
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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Palestinians set fire to a West Bank shrine revered by Jews as Israeli forces operated in the occupied territory following a spate of recent Palestinian attacks in Israel, the Israeli military said Sunday.
The developments come as tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have escalated during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year converges with major Jewish and Christian holidays. Protests and tensions around the holiday last year boiled over into the 11-day Gaza war.
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav told Israeli Army Radio that some 100 Palestinians marched toward the site late Saturday, rioted and set it ablaze before they were dispersed by Palestinian security forces. Images on social media showed parts of the tomb inside the shrine smashed and charred.
Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus is a flashpoint prayer site. Some Jews believe the biblical Joseph is buried in the tomb, while Muslims say a sheikh is buried there. The army escorts Jewish worshippers to the site several times a year, in coordination with Palestinian security forces.
The incident drew condemnation from Israeli leaders. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he was shocked by the images and said Israel would locate the perpetrators and repair the damage.
“The vandalism of Joseph’s Tomb is a grave event and a serious violation of freedom of worship in one of the holiest places for every Jew,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz tweeted.
Also on Sunday, the military said forces near a West Bank village opened fire at the lower body of a suspect who did not stop as asked as she was approaching the soldiers. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the suspect, a woman in her 40s, died from her injuries in a hospital.
The incidents come as Israeli forces continued to operate in Jenin and the surrounding area, home to two of the attackers who staged deadly attacks against Israelis in recent weeks.
A raid on the hometown of one of the assailants on Saturday sparked a gunbattle in the occupied West Bank that left at least one Palestinian militant dead.
Military spokesman Kochav said forces in the West Bank were making arrests, gathering intelligence and preparing the homes of the attackers for demolition.
“We will be at every place at any time as needed to cut off these terror attacks. Israel is going on the offensive,” Bennett told a meeting of his Cabinet.
A military statement said a “violent riot” broke out as forces were operating in the village of Yabad, home to one of the attackers. It said forces responded to the riot with live fire and “neutralized” one Palestinian who threw an explosive at them. It was unclear what his condition was.
Forces arrested at least eight suspects and found Israeli military ammunition and uniforms in one of the suspect’s homes as well as illegal arms, the military said.
Jenin is considered a stronghold of Palestinian militants. Israeli forces often come under fire when operating in the area. Even the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank and coordinates with Israel on security matters, appears to have little control.
While Israel has eased some restrictions on Palestinians during Ramadan, on Saturday Israel tightened them on Jenin, imposing a partial lockdown on all residents aside from laborers working in Israel.
Four attacks by Palestinians in recent weeks have killed more than a dozen people in one of the deadliest bursts of violence against Israelis in years.
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| 2022-04-10T14:35:03
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PARIS (AP) — French voters headed to polling stations nationwide Sunday for the first round of the country’s presidential election, one that seemed for months like a shoo-in for French President Emmanuel Macron but is now a tossup amid a strong challenge from the far right’s Marine Le Pen.
Macron, a centrist, is asking France’s 48 million voters for a second five-year term — but there are 11 other candidatesand widespread voter apathy standing in his way. Many French also blame Macron for not doing enough to help them cope with the soaring costs of food, fuel and heating, or say he has ignored domestic concerns amid his focus on the war in Ukraine.
With war raging on the European Union’s eastern border, this French presidential election has significant international implications, including the potential to reshape France’s post-war identity and indicate whether European populism is on the ascendant or in the decline.
France is the 27-member bloc’s second-largest economy after Germany, the only one with a U.N. Security Council veto, and its sole nuclear power. And as Russian President Vladimir Putin keeps up his military’s assault on Ukraine, French power will help shape Europe’s response. Macron is the only leading presidential candidate who fully supports the NATO military alliance.
The top two vote-getters in Sunday’s election advance to a decisive runoff April 24 — unless one candidate gets more than half of the nationwide vote Sunday, which has never happened in France.
France operates a manual system in which voters are obliged to cast paper ballots in person.People who can’t do that can make arrangements ahead of time to authorize someone else to vote for them.
Bundled up against the April chill, voters lined up Sunday at one polling station in southern Paris even before it opened. Once inside, they placed their paper ballots into envelopes and then into a transparent box, many wearing masks or using hand gel as part of COVID-19 measures. In the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, a small boy waited patiently for his father to complete his secret ballot by hand.
Polls on Sunday close at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) in most places and an hour later in some larger cities. By noon, just over a quarter of France’s electorate had cast ballots, slightly down from previous elections. Pundits before the vote suggested a low turnout could hurt Macron’s chances, but it could also hurt Le Pen too.
Many presidential contenders made early visits to their own polling stations. Valerie Pecresse of the conservative Republican Party cast her vote in Velizy-Villacoublay, southwest of Paris. Le Pen showed up in Henin-Beaumont, a town in struggling northern France, while Macron and his wife voted in Le Touquet, a coastal resort town on the English Channel.
Far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon — one of half a dozen candidates on the left — has seen a late rise in the polls. Extreme-right pundit Eric Zemmour and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo of the Socialists are among others vying to be installed in the presidential Elysee Palace.
Macron for months looked like a shoo-in to become France’s first president in 20 years to win a second term. But that scenario evaporated in the campaign’s closing stages as the pain of inflation and rising gas, food and energy prices became the dominant election theme for many low-income households. They could drive many voters Sunday into the arms of Le Pen, Macron’s political nemesis.
In 2017, Macron trounced Le Pen by a landslide to become France’s youngest modern president. The win for the former banker — now 44 — was seen as a victory against populist, nationalist politics, coming in the wake of Donald Trump’s election to the White House and Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, both in 2016.
With populist Viktor Orban winning a fourth consecutive term as Hungary’s prime minister just days ago, eyes have now turned to France’s resurgent far-right candidates — especially National Rally leader Le Pen, who wants to ban Muslim headscarves in French streets and halal and kosher butchers, and drastically reduce immigration from outside Europe.
If Macron wins, however, it will be seen as a victory for the EU, which has shown rare unity of late in responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Observers say a Macron reelection would spell real likelihood for increased cooperation and investment in European security and defense — especially with a new pro-EU German government.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has afforded Macron the chance to demonstrate his influence on the international stage and burnish his pro-NATO credentials in election debates. While he fully backs NATO, other candidates hold differing views on France’s role within the alliance. Melenchon is among those who want to abandon NATO altogether, saying it produces nothing but squabbles and instability.
Such a development would deal a huge blow to an alliance built to protect its members as the Cold War emerged 73 years ago.
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John Leicester in Poissy, France, and Patrick Hermansen in Paris contributed
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Follow all AP stories on France’s presidential election at https://apnews.com/hub/french-election-2022
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| 2022-04-10T14:35:10
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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Sirens went off in some Polish cities early Sunday to mark the anniversary of the 2010 presidential plane crash, despite widespread protests that their sound would be unnecessary trauma to hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war in Ukraine.
The sirens were intended to add to the significance and the plaintive character of observances honoring late President Lech Kaczynski, the first lady and 94 other prominent Poles killed 12 years ago in a plane accident in Russia.
The sirens were heard at 0641 GMT, the exact time the presidential plane crashed on April 10, 2010, near Smolensk, Russia.
Kaczynski was the twin of Jaroslaw Kaczynski who is the leader of the main ruling Law and Justice party and Poland’s key politician. The brothers founded the party in 2001.
Wreaths and flowers were laid in Warsaw and across the country at the monuments and graves to the victims of the national tragedy. Jaroslaw Kaczynski and party figures were at the monuments to the late president and to all the victims, in downtown Warsaw.
Provincial governors, who represent the central government, ignored widespread calls of concern for refugees from neighboring Ukraine, traumatized by air raid alarms, to not use the sirens. Some 2.6 million refugees — mostly women and children — have crossed into Poland since Feb. 24, when Russia’s troops invaded Ukraine and started bombing it. Many require psychological care to deal with their trauma.
The authorities were sending text messages to refugees’ phones and posting public warnings that the sirens would mean no danger.
The head of a Ukrainian support center in Warsaw, Myroslava Keryk, said that the “Ukrainian mothers had time to explain to their children that the sirens will not sound an air raid and that there was nothing to be afraid of.”
But to many Poles the use of sirens was a bad idea.
“This is a system for warning and alarm, not for celebrations,” said Adam Glogowski, a retired fireman. “We don’t need sirens to remember, to honor the crash victims.”
Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and unfriendly relations with Moscow, Poland’s government is reviving its controversial allegation that the crash was a Kremlin assassination plan. It is fueled by Russia’s refusal to return the plane’s wreckage, obstructing detailed investigation.
“We have no doubts that it was an assassination,” Kaczynski said last week, but offered no proof.
Poland’s state commission for analyzing air travel incidents said the crash in dense fog on approach to the rudimentary Smolensk airport was the result of human errors made in adverse conditions. But a separate team appointed by the government alleges that explosions preceded the crash, which was intentional. It is to present another of its reports on Monday.
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| 2022-04-10T14:35:17
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(NEXSTAR) – The World Health Organization announced this week that 99% of the world’s population breathes poor-quality air, that when inhaled over time can cause cardiovascular and respiratory disease.
While cities in the developing world have the worst air quality, according to the WHO, pollution is still a problem in American cities. There are chronic sources of air pollution, like vehicle traffic on busy highways, as well as seasonal issues, like smoke from wildfires.
The American Lung Association tracks air pollution in U.S. cities. Its annual report uses data from the Environmental Protection Agency on the presence of two types of pollutants: ozone (or smog) and particulate matter. Particulate matter has many sources, such as transportation, power plants, agriculture, fires and industry – as well as from natural sources like desert dust.
Using the EPA data, the report ranks the most and least polluted metro areas.
The cities with the highest amount of ozone pollution (or smog) are:
- Los Angeles-Long Beach, California
- Bakersfield, California
- Visalia, California
- Fresno-Madera-Hanford, California
- Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona
- Sacramento-Roseville, California
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California
- Denver-Aurora, Colorado
- Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, Utah
- San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California
The cities with the worst year-round particle pollution are:
- Bakersfield, California
- Fresno-Madera-Hanford, California
- Visalia, California
- Los Angeles-Long Beach, California
- Medford-Grants Pass, Oregon
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California
- Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona
- Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, Pennsylvania/Ohio/West Virginia
- El Centro, California
“Particulate matter, especially PM2.5, is capable of penetrating deep into the lungs and entering the bloodstream, causing cardiovascular, cerebrovascular (stroke) and respiratory impacts,” WHO said. “There is emerging evidence that particulate matter impacts other organs and causes other diseases as well.”
The American Lung Association also keeps track of which cities have the least air pollution.
The ten cities with the cleanest air, free of particle pollution are:
- Urban Honolulu, Hawaii
- Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii
- Cheyenne, Wyoming
- Wilmington, North Carolina
- Casper, Wyoming
- St. George, Utah
- Bellingham, Washington
- Elmira-Corning, New York
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Duluth, Minnesota/Wisconsin
There are many cities that also scored well for smog-free air, but because they all had similar readings, the ALA did not rank them. You can see the full list of clean air cities in the American Lung Association’s report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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| 2022-04-10T14:35:24
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(AP) – Today is Sunday, April 10, the 100th day of 2022. There are 265 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On April 10, 1912, the British liner RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.
On this date:
In 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.
In 1932, German President Paul Von Hindenburg was reelected in a runoff, with Adolf Hitler coming in second.
In 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals.
In 1963, the fast-attack nuclear submarine USS Thresher (SSN-593) sank during deep-diving tests east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in a disaster that claimed 129 lives.
In 1971, a table tennis team from the United States arrived in China at the invitation of the communist government for a goodwill visit that came to be known as “ping-pong diplomacy.”
In 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union joined some 70 nations in signing an agreement banning biological warfare.
In 1974, Golda Meir announced her resignation as prime minister of Israel.
In 1998, the Northern Ireland peace talks concluded as negotiators reached a landmark settlement to end 30 years of bitter rivalries and bloody attacks.
In 2005, Tiger Woods won his fourth Masters with a spectacular finish of birdies and bogeys.
In 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski (lehk kah-CHIN’-skee), 60, was killed in a plane crash in western Russia that also claimed the lives of his wife and top Polish political, military and church officials.
In 2019, scientists released the first image ever made of a black hole, revealing a fiery, doughnut-shaped object in a galaxy 53 million light-years from earth.
In 2020, on Good Friday, Pope Francis presided over a torch-lit procession in St. Peter’s Square, which was otherwise empty because of the coronavirus; nurses and doctors were among those holding a cross.
Ten years ago: Rick Santorum quit the presidential race, clearing the way for Mitt Romney to claim the Republican nomination. Syrian troops defied a U.N.-brokered cease-fire plan, launching fresh attacks on rebellious areas.
Five years ago: Justice Neil Gorsuch took his place as the newest addition on the bench of the Supreme Court, restoring a narrow conservative majority. Alabama Republican Gov. Robert Bentley resigned rather than face impeachment and pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor campaign violations that arose during an investigation of his alleged affair with a top aide. The New York Daily News and ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for uncovering how police abused eviction rules to oust hundreds of people, mostly poor minorities, from their homes; Colson Whitehead’s novel “The Underground Railroad” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
One year ago: Speaking to Republican donors at his new home inside his Mar-a-Lago resort, former President Donald Trump slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a “stone-cold loser” and mocked McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who had been Trump’s transportation secretary. Reports from Myanmar said at least 82 people had been killed the previous day in a crackdown by security forces on pro-democracy protesters. Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the grueling Grand National horse race, riding Minella Times to victory at the race in England.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Liz Sheridan is 93. Actor Steven Seagal is 70. Folk-pop singer Terre Roche (The Roches) is 69. Actor Peter MacNicol is 68. Actor Olivia Brown is 65. Rock musician Steven Gustafson (10,000 Maniacs) is 65. Singer-producer Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds is 64. Rock singer-musician Brian Setzer is 63. Rock singer Katrina Leskanich (les-KAH’-nich) is 62. Olympic gold medal speedskater Cathy Turner is 60. Rock musician Tim “Herb” Alexander is 57. R&B singer Kenny Lattimore is 55. Actor-comedian Orlando Jones is 54. Rock musician Mike Mushok (Staind) is 53. Rapper Q-Tip (AKA Kamaal) is 52. Actor David Harbour is 47. Blues singer Shemekia Copeland is 43. Actor Laura Bell Bundy is 41. Actor Harry Hadden-Paton is 41. Actor Chyler Leigh is 40. Pop musician Andrew Dost (fun.) is 39. Actor Ryan Merriman is 39. Singer Mandy Moore is 38. Actor Barkhad Abdi (BAHRK’-hahd AHB’-dee) is 37. Actor Shay Mitchell is 35. Actor Haley Joel Osment is 34. Actor Molly Bernard (TV: “Younger”) is 34. Country singer Maren Morris is 32. Actor Alex Pettyfer is 32. Actor-singer AJ (AKA Amanda) Michalka (mish-AL’-kah) is 31. Actor Daisy Ridley is 30. Singer-actor Sofia Carson is 29. Actor Audrey Whitby is 26. Actor Ruby Jerins is 24.
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| 2022-04-10T14:35:30
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MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Civil Guard says it is investigating a businessman in the eastern Valencia region who owned a private taxidermy collection with more than 1,000 stuffed animals, including just over 400 from protected species and at least one specimen of a North African oryx, already extinct.
The collection would fetch 29 million euros ($31.5 million) on the black market, the Civil Guard said Sunday in a statement, adding that its owner could be charged with trafficking and other crimes against the environment.
It said the finding was the largest of protected stuffed specimens in Spain.
Investigating agents found the stuffed animals in two warehouses extending over 50,000 square meters on the outskirts of Bétera, a small town north of the eastern coastal city of Valencia.
Of the 1,090 stuffed animals found, 405 belonged to specimens protected by the CITES convention on wildlife protection.
They included the scimitar oryx, also known as the Sahara oryx, which the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, declared extinct in the wild in 2000, and at least two more species nearly extinct: the addax, or white antelope, originally from the Sahara desert and the Bengal tiger.
The agents also recorded stuffed specimens of cheetah, leopard, lion, lynx, polar bear, snow panther and white rhinoceros, among others, as well as 198 large ivory tusks from elephants.
The Civil Guard said it would investigate whether any documents exist justifying the ownership of the collection.
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https://www.wane.com/news/weird/spain-probes-private-taxidermy-museum-with-1000-animals/
| 2022-04-10T14:35:37
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(The Hill) – Governors and legislators in several states are racing to throw hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks, rebates and straight up cash at some of the richest people in the nation, hoping to secure commitments from NFL franchises in search of massive new stadiums.
Three states are considering or offering incentive packages to keep teams that already play inside their borders, while officials in two neighboring states are putting together their own bids to steal away nearby teams. Together, the deals amount to some of the most expensive packages states have ever offered to private businesses.
On Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said she and legislative leaders had agreed on a $220 billion budget framework that would include $850 million in state and local taxpayer money to fund most of a new $1.4 billion stadium for her hometown team, the Buffalo Bills.
Virginia lawmakers are debating $350 million in bonds for a proposed economic development project that would be located either in Prince William or Loudoun counties to host the Washington Commanders, who currently play across the Potomac River in Landover, Md.
Maryland lawmakers have proposed $400 million in economic development along the Blue Line corridor near the Commanders’ current stadium, though none of that money would be used to fund the team’s wishes for a new home.
In the Kansas City metropolitan area, both Kansas and Missouri lawmakers are in the initial phases of outlining incentive packages to woo the Chiefs. The team has a lease for Arrowhead Stadium, on the Missouri side of the border, until 2031. But chief executive Clark Hunt said last week they have invested $500,000 in studying whether to renovate, build a new stadium in Missouri or move across the border to Kansas.
The owners of all three teams are regular fixtures on lists of America’s ultra-wealthy. Terry and Kim Pegula, who own the Bills and the Buffalo Sabres, are worth a combined $5.8 billion, according to Forbes. The Hunt family that owns the Chiefs counts a net worth of $15.5 billion. Dan Snyder, who recently purchased a $48 million estate that was once part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon, is worth a reported $4 billion.
Legislators who back the massive incentive packages aimed at billionaire owners say the investments pay off in economic activity and civic pride.
“The Buffalo Bills are a part of the fabric of our community in Western New York. Losing our team to another part of the country would be devastating to the psyche of our community and the fabric of who we are, not to mention the economy that has been on the rebound and has been building momentum,” said New York state Sen. Tim Kennedy (D), who represents Buffalo. He pointed to stadiums that host the Yankees, Mets and Knicks, all of which received taxpayer funding. “The last thing we need is for an NFL team to pull up shop.”
Economists tell a very different tale. Stadiums for any professional sports team lie dormant more often than they host games, and studies of economic impact unanimously show the stadiums do not deliver what the teams promise they will.
“Economists don’t always agree on everything, but this is one where we’re pretty well aligned,” said Paul Oyer, a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and author of the book An Economist Goes to the Game. “They don’t generally bring other benefits to the area like they always talk about. There tends to be a lot of promises and none of those benefits come other than to the stadium. It’s not like they’re producing a large set of full-time, high-quality jobs.”
The new stadium for the Bills is likely to play a role as Hochul seeks a full term in office this November. Hochul’s two main challengers, Reps. Lee Zeldin (R) and Tom Suozzi (D), were critical of the deal struck with taxpayer money.
“On behalf of New York taxpayers, Kathy Hochul should have taken a stronger negotiating position and driven a harder bargain to successfully keep the Bills in Buffalo without their loyal fans and the rest of the state’s taxpayers having to pay a $850 million public cost,” Zeldin said in a statement.
In Virginia, the push to woo the Commanders has used stadium deals in Atlanta and Phoenix as models. Legislators have proposed floating bonds to build an economic development area that would include a stadium and other facilities to attract visitors, like The Battery in Atlanta, an entertainment district that hosts the Braves.
The bills under consideration, sponsored by state Sen. Richard Saslaw (D), the majority leader, and Delegate Barry Knight (R), who heads the House Appropriations Committee, would allow the team to recapture some of the sales tax generated by a new stadium to help defray the estimated $1 billion construction cost, similar to a measure Arizona lawmakers approved to build a new stadium for the NFL’s Cardinals in Glendale.
Lawmakers in both Virginia and Maryland are acutely aware of Snyder’s own recent move from Maryland to Virginia. Some Maryland lawmakers say they are unwilling to commit to money for Snyder’s team, which dropped its racist name in 2020 and adopted the Commanders moniker earlier this year.
“Initially, they were a really good partner to the community. Then over the years they essentially went MIA,” said state Delegate Jazz Lewis (D), whose district includes the stadium, pointing to investments the late former owner Jack Kent Cooke made in a major sports complex in Prince George’s County. “Candidly, there are a number of folks who would be fine to see them go.”
Lewis said his $400 million proposal would build an entertainment district similar to the one under discussion in Virginia, though none of the money could be used to fund a stadium. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Thursday he backs the proposal, which would make investments in the area even if the team leaves.
“This is money that could entice them to stay because they know we are making investments around them,” Lewis said of the Commanders. He said that the General Assembly is also considering money to improve M&T Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, and Camden Yards, home of the Orioles — two teams, he noted, that have not threatened to leave the state.
“If [the Commanders] leave, we can use the money to help level the stadium if that were to happen,” Lewis said. “I was very concerned that like RFK [Stadium in Washington] my constituents would have this towering structure that would depress home values for years to come.”
The fight over the Chiefs has reignited the so-called border war in the Kansas City metro area. For years, lawmakers on the Kansas side and the Missouri side offered millions in subsidies and tax breaks to businesses that would cross state lines, moving as little as a few blocks to shift jobs into one state or the other, at significant cost to taxpayers.
A truce established between the two cities three years ago is now at risk of unraveling. After Hunt’s comments last week, made at the annual meeting of NFL owners, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) said his state would not let the Chiefs leave without a fight.
“After my conversation with [Chiefs President] Mark Donovan, I assured him that Missouri will compete with any state trying to move the Chiefs from Missouri,” Parson said in a statement. “My administration and I have a great working relationship with the Chiefs organization, and this will not change.”
The fights over NFL teams come at a time when state budgets are suddenly flush with cash, infused by federal government aid to handle the coronavirus pandemic and the associated economic downturn and recovery as well as unexpectedly strong tax receipts.
But those good times will not last forever, and economists warn stadium deals rarely, if ever, deliver their promised returns. Oyer said a state would be wise to spend excess cash to pay down pension debts and obligations, something that pays defined financial benefits in the longer run.
“Football stadiums are especially egregious because they’re used so few days a year,” Oyer said in an interview. “These stadiums cost billions of dollars, but the people who get the benefits from it are a) already billionaires and b) managing businesses that are already bringing in billions of dollars.”
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https://www.wane.com/sports/stadium-politics-rile-states-fighting-over-nfl-teams/
| 2022-04-10T14:35:50
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AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods used to turn weekends at Augusta National into gripping theatre, relentlessly charging up the leaderboard one fearless drive, one feathery iron, one nervy putt at a time.
Not now. Maybe not ever again.
The magic the five-time Masters champion summoned so easily for so long was nowhere to be found during another labored four-plus hour journey underneath the Georgia pines on Saturday. His 6-over 78 marked his worst in 93 career rounds at the tournament he has come to define and left him at 7-over.
The limp from his surgically repaired right leg growing more pronounced with each deliberate, cautious step, the 46-year-old slipped further down the leaderboard to end whatever chance — however unlikely — of being a factor come late Sunday afternoon.
There was no familiar charge in the early April chill. Just the reality that 14 months removed from a serious car accident that threatened to end his career, Woods can still play golf. He just can’t do it — at least not at the moment — at the level needed to compete in a field consisting of younger players, many who grew up idolizing him but have long outgrown standing in awe of him.
Following a gritty back-nine push on Friday that helped him stay on the fringe of contention, Woods walked to the first tee Saturday two hours before the leaders. Looking to send a jolt through the gallery that stood five-deep in places hoping for a glimpse and a chance to roar, Woods instead spent most of the afternoon silently glaring at the hole or his putter — or both.
He three-putted the par-4 first from 54 feet for a bogey, a sign of things to come. On the par-4 fifth, he slung his club in disgust after his approach drifted to the right, far away from a back left hole location. His lag attempt from 60-feet over a ridge was well short. His 9-foot par putt rolled his 3-feet by and his comebacker for bogey hit the hole and bounced out. It was Woods’ first four-putt at the Masters — ever.
Things never really got better. Three more three-putts followed on an afternoon where nothing really felt right. And it wasn’t just his leg. It was his back. His hands. His posture. Everything.
Even worse, there seemed to be no way to compensate. He tinkered, the kind of searching usually reserved for the practice range, not in the middle of a major.
“As many putts as I had, you’d think I’d have figured it out somewhere along the line, but it just didn’t happen,” he said.
While Woods was slowly making his way up the 18th fairway, leader Scottie Scheffler — just 25 and the world’s top-ranked golfer — was making the turn doing at the Masters what Woods has done so often over the last quarter-century: imposing his will on the course and the tournament.
“We all wish we had that two, three-month window when we get hot, and hopefully majors fall somewhere along in that window,” Woods said. “We take care of it in those windows. Scottie seems to be in that window right now.”
A window that is currently closed for Woods. While it would be easy to call his mere presence in northeast Georgia this weekend a victory in itself considering last fall he wondered if he’d ever play competitively again, Woods isn’t in this to be a feel-good story. He has no interest in being a ceremonial field filler.
His steely 1-under 71 during the first round on Thursday only seemed to embolden him. Following a shaky front-nine 39 on Friday, he recovered to shoot 74 and easily get in under the cutline.
He opened with another sloppy 39 on the front Saturday. And for a few fleeting minutes shortly after he made the turn, it appeared another rally was in store.
A crisp iron to 14 feet on No. 12 and a two-putt birdie at the par-5 13th provided a spark that never became a flame. He bogeyed the 16th and 17th and his approach up the hill to the 18th sailed into the gallery. His bump-and-run caught the slope and kept rolling, with Woods gingerly chasing after it long before it came to a stop nearly 60 feet away from the pin.
Three more putts and his worst round at Augusta was finally over. His 78 was one more than the 77 he put together in the third round of his first trip to Augusta in 1995.
He was an amateur back then, a 19-year-old phenom. Two years later, he was a champion. Two-plus decades later, he is a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest in the history of his sport. He’s also a middle-aged father of two trying to recapture something far more elusive than it used to be.
“Each and every day is a challenge,” he said. “Each and every day presents its own different challenges for all of us. I wake up and start the fight all over again.”
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https://www.wane.com/sports/tigers-tale-woods-shoots-career-worst-78-at-the-masters/
| 2022-04-10T14:35:56
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Party in historic limestone mill to celebrate merger of theater, film groups
Bloomington's performing arts will enter a new era this year. Everyone 21 and older is invited to purchase tickets for an April 23 lead-up celebration, Big Bang. Part of the excitement lies in experiencing the venue, the historic Woolery Mill.
The festivities, where management will reveal the new theater company's name and what's to be performed during its first season, offer attendees not only dancing to a DJ, dining and entertainment, but an opportunity to enjoy some Monroe County history.
One World at the Woolery Mill is the event site, and the location, a building on the National Register of Historic Places list, multiplies the evening's charm.
The party is to honor and raise funds for an emerging collaboration among Cardinal Stage, Bloomington Playwrights Project and Pigasus Institute. The merged company's name as well as its first theatrical season will be announced. The organization will focus on new work, theater and film education, and theater for young people.
Previous:Bloomington theater groups BPP, Cardinal Stage, Pigasus Institute form new company
"We're going to be reaching and cultivating younger audiences," said Gabe Gloden, Cardinal's current managing director.
Gloden wants every artist and arts organization in Bloomington to benefit from the merger. The new group plans technical enhancements to the John Waldron Arts Center, beautification of its visual-arts spaces and greater availability of performance spaces.
"Our goal is to make sure that existing and new artists and arts organizations continue to thrive in Bloomington," he said. More information about that will be announced at the Big Bang.
One of the theater company's goals is turning manuscripts into stage performances and then into screen productions. It's what Chad Rabinovitz, producing artistic director at Bloomington Playwrights Project, calls a "page-to-stage-to-screen pipeline.”
"While it's true that scripts become plays and subsequently are adapted into films all the time, this typically doesn't happen under one roof," Gloden said. Authors and playwrights who have their original visions scarred during stage-to-screen activities are ubiquitous. Gloden is hopeful that the new company can avoid this, since the original theatrical team won't be replaced by a new film team under different producers.
The company will identify projects as they are beginning to form and guide them through production, making sure authors' intents remain intact.
More:Theater: 'H.M.S. Pinafore' coming to IU's Musical Arts Center
Location has its own story
Adding to the party's lure is the Woolery Mill itself. It was one of the largest independent mills fabricating Indiana limestone, stone that is part of iconic buildings throughout the United States.
It was built in 1930 by Henry Woolery (1859-1933) and closed for business in 1996. The company was the A.H. Woolery & Son Stone Co.
Will Bybee, a local resident and Henry's great-grandson, grew up working at the Woolery Mill with his brothers. (Will's father, Wilbur Bybee, started a different company, Bybee Stone, in 1978.)
"The most important thing about the Woolery Mill," Will said in a text, is all the beautiful limestone work they did all over the (United States). It was a huge amount of work, in every major city east of the Mississippi but especially all along the Eastern seaboard."
Will's grandmother, Ruth Woolery Bybee, is one example of the intrepid south-central Indiana stone mill family. Henry Woolery's daughter, Ruth married into the Bybee family. A botanist, she traveled the country with her husband, a geologist. More than 80 years ago, as she was pregnant with her fifth child, she boarded a train out of Texas, determined to have her daughter, Martha Ellen, born in Indiana. Many of Ruth's Texan grandchildren remain involved in Bybee Stone Co. today because of the love for Indiana limestone Ruth instilled in them. Ruth's brother, Ralph Woolery, ran the Woolery business after Henry died.
One World developed its business on the east side of the 76,000-square-foot Woolery building. The building's tall windows provide light, and the ceiling shows the original steel. Metal side doors remind visitors of the building's past. Because it's on the national register, all construction was required to follow historic preservation rules. Inside, the rooms sparkle with newness and LED lighting; outside it looks much as it once did. Because the mill processed stone, limestone embellishments garnish the site.
If you go
WHAT: Dinner, dancing, festivities and announcements at the Big Bang party to celebrate the merger of. Cardinal Stage, Bloomington Playwrights Project and Pigasus Institute.
WHEN: 6 p.m. April 23.
MORE: Creative black tie welcome. Proof of vaccination or recent negative test is required. See cardinalstage.org.
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https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/entertainment/2022/04/10/party-historic-limestone-mill-celebrate-theater-merger/9465042002/
| 2022-04-10T15:06:04
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Joe Lee's view
Joe Lee
Special to the H-T
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https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/opinion/2022/04/10/joe-lees-view/9510615002/
| 2022-04-10T15:06:10
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Column: Is this 'ice age' indicative of a deeper problem with our child rearing?
When one thinks of the ice age, they commonly refer to the age when glaciers were formed long ago. But as a former teacher of 36 years, I think of a different description. It describes the youth of the last several years.
No one would dispute that ice is a pretty good treatment for common injuries. It reduces swelling and pain to the injured area. But it isn’t a panacea for every affliction that occurs. However, through my experience as an elementary physical education teacher I noticed a gradual increase in the use and request for use by students. It was especially evident over the past 10 years or so.
So why is this? Is it that kids are just more accident prone these days? Is it “helicopter parents?” Is it a need for attention or from being coddled too much? Or could it be we are raising our kids to be “cupcakes?”
I always tried to make situations safe for kids as much as I could. Nobody wants injuries if avoidable. Heck, we even played floor hockey with foam blades on the sticks. But sometimes things happen no matter how safe you try to make an activity. I get that, and usually you could tell if someone is really hurt or not.
But I always allowed kids to go to the nurse for ice, whether I asked them to go, or it was their idea. The last thing I wanted was a complaint: “Mr. Fox wouldn’t allow me to get some ice!”
The only thing is, as the requests for ice became more common, most the time kids would either be sucking on the ice as they came back to class or set it down immediately if they saw a fun game. I guess they just needed the affirmation and attention and were automatically tuned to make the trip to the nurse. No harm, no foul, right?
But looking at the big picture, I wonder if it means more? I used to come home and say to my family, “Man I hope we don’t ever get in another war, because I’m afraid we will get our butts kicked!” Many of the kids just seemed so fragile. And most couldn’t even do one chin-up. Why were they so weak? Too sedentary, too many video games?
When I was growing up, I can’t recall one time that I ever went to the teacher to request ice of any other medical attention for that matter. If you fell, you just brushed off the dirt and kept playing. It was the school of hard knocks. We just didn’t want to have to miss our activities. And we were taught to try and solve our own problems. If I ever complained to my dad that my big brother was annoying me, he would just turn and say, “go punch him in the nose!” He didn’t really mean it, but it certainly got me out of his hair.
I think of the greatest generation that fought during World War II and the sacrifices they made. There is no doubt that this was an exceptional representation of the American people. They were just tough cookies. And the other brave soldiers that fought in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. We are thankful for you!
Sometimes doing what is best for our kids doesn’t always mean giving in to them or trying to keep them in a protective bubble. Common sense is usually the best guide to follow and instilling in them independence is the best gift you can give your kids and yourselves.
Lance Fox is retired from the Monroe County Community School Corp., where he was a teacher for 36 years, and has also worked as an entertainer.
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https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2022/04/10/column-ice-age-indicative-deeper-child-rearing-issue/7232665001/
| 2022-04-10T15:06:16
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https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2022/04/10/column-ice-age-indicative-deeper-child-rearing-issue/7232665001/
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Letter: Annexation, tax increase opposed
The Herald-Times
We are being taxed to death as it is. They want to annex property so taxes will rise and seniors won't be able to pay. The city has plenty of revenue. They are just wanting more money to place more obstacles in the roads ... or build more apartments. I think the mayor should take a pay cut before raising taxes.
Becky Pate, Bloomington
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https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/opinion/letters/2022/04/10/letter-annexation-tax-increase-opposed/7192759001/
| 2022-04-10T15:06:22
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https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/opinion/letters/2022/04/10/letter-annexation-tax-increase-opposed/7192759001/
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Letter: Parking change sought for IU women's games
Huge thanks to Coach Terri Moren and her wonderful team for an amazing season!
A recent H-T article titled "Tip of the iceberg: Excitement growing around Teri Moren and Indiana women's basketball" mentioned the hope among Indiana University athletics staff that the growing success of the program under coach Moren will bring more fans.
As an IU women’s basketball season ticket holder for most of the five years I’ve lived in Bloomington, other than having to cope with the over-the-top unsafe volume of the sound system, attending games is a positive experience and one I look forward to. Except for one major problem.
Students, who regularly fill the lots surrounding Assembly Hall, are required to move their cars for IU men’s games. However, that doesn’t happen for the women’s games and even if you get there an hour early, the lots, including the spots for those of us with a disabled parking permit, are full.
If IU athletics would clear the lots of students cars for the women’s games, too, it would not only be the right thing to do, it would likely bring more fans to support our wonderful women’s team in their ongoing mission of success.
Marcia Hart, Bloomington
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https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/opinion/letters/2022/04/10/letter-parking-change-sought-iu-womens-games/7196463001/
| 2022-04-10T15:06:28
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High school boys golf: How Bloomington area teams could fare this spring
Note: Lighthouse Christian is not competing in boys golf this year, instead fielding a club team that will develop the program for future years. Check out the golfers to watch this season and how area teams might fare this spring.
Bloomington North
Key returning golfers
Simon Deliyannis will be North's No. 1 this season. Head coach Harrison Carmichael said the junior has worked hard on his game to get to his current level. He averaged 42.6 per nine last year.
Senior Charlie Nicholson, junior Jacob Knapp, and junior Peter Lee will round out the top four for the Cougars. Knapp was picked to the Herald-Times All-Area second team last year, after he averaged 41.1 per nine.
Carmichael likes the talent he's working with this year.
Schedule overview
North has May 28 circled on the calendar for the Providence Invitational. That's where the IHSAA regional tournament is held, so that will be a good barometer for the Cougars as they approach postseason play.
Carmichael added that the Brownsburg Invitational at The Trophy Club on May 14 and the West Lafayette Invitational on May 21 will also be good challenges for his team.
Outlook/Expectations
The Cougars advanced from sectional last year and finished eighth at regional. Carmichael wants to see his team, at least, return to that point. The Cougars have experience, which can only help them get back to regional.
"I think we would like to keep the majority of our scores below a certain mark. I know a lot of them have a number in their head," Carmichael said. "But making it out of sectionals, as we did last year, would be a goal for us. I think that's very attainable for our team."
More:Bloomington North freshman named Herald-Times Gymnast of the Year, All-Area team named
More:Bloomington North's Kante finds no pain in the rain in track opener
Bloomington South
Key returning golfers
Four of the Panthers' five starters from last year's team that finished fourth in the IHSAA State Finals are back.
Senior Jacob Paine is headed to play for Franklin College after graduation. Sophomore Landon "Happy" Gilmore finished tied for eighth in the state finals, so he'll look to build on the strong finish to his freshman year. Junior Nick Bellush and sophomore Connor Byon are the other two returning starters. Byon tied with Gilmore for a team-best +2 at the Providence regional. All four were named to the 2021 Herald-Times All-Area team last year.
Head coach Dustin Carver is still working out who will be his No. 5 golfer. He said senior Dylan Barkley, junior Harrison Bomba, freshman Aidan Bomba, and junior Noah Spicer form his team's top eight.
Schedule overview
Carver said his schedule is designed to expose his team to the best courses and the best competition around the state of Indiana. He highlighted the Hall of Fame (April 30), the State Preview (May 7), and the Brownsburg Invitational (May 14) as three of the top tournaments the Panthers will play in this year.
"It's pretty much one of the best schedules around," Carver said. "I love to compete love to compete against some of the best teams in the state and I think the boys do also."
Outlook/Expectations
After a successful 2021 season and with much of that team back this year, so Carver has high expectations for his team this year. He's not thinking too far down the road, wanting to ensure the Panthers focus on Conference Indiana play before thinking about sectionals and regionals. But Carver thinks his team is capable of making another run to the state finals, and he's hoping they can improve from last year's result.
More:Longtime friends comprise core of Bloomington South softball
Spring sports come alive:Check out Bloomington area athletes accomplishments
Edgewood
Key returning golfers
Mustangs head coach Garry Lee tabbed junior Joe West, sophomore Luke Garrett, and sophomore Milan Hancock as his best three golfers. Seniors Owen Graham and Nehemiah Yazzie are also in line for solid playing time.
Lee said his top spots outside the starting five are more up for grabs, but he's not expecting to play more than six to seven golfers in total. And he said it'll be more competitive for that playing time than the Mustangs have had in the past.
Schedule overview
The Mustangs will play locally quite a bit this season, with a lot of home matches and some away matches and tournaments against other Bloomington schools at Cascade Golf Course. Lee called an away match at Linton on April 19 and a trip to Brazil, Ind. to face Clay City and Bloomfield on May 17 two of the more notable dates on the schedule this season.
Outlook/Expectations
After Edgewood finished fifth at sectional last year, Lee is looking for improvement. The Mustangs graduated their top golfer from last year in Landon Ringler, but Lee said his team has the experience to compete. His goal is to finish in the top two in the Western Indiana Conference. Beyond that, he foresees some difficult opposition for his team.
"We're realistic and know that our sectional is loaded. Maybe in a couple years, we might be able to sneak into third and get out," Lee said. "If we finish up toward the top of the sectional, without making it out, (and) we win most of our matches, we're pretty happy."
More:A look ahead at what to expect for Bloomington area softball teams
More:Area high school baseball teams return several young players
Eastern Greene
Key returning golfers
The Thunderbirds' No. 1 in the lineup will be sophomore Logan Russell. Head coach Jacob Carmichael said Russell has a good-looking swing and just needs to develop consistency.
Sophomores Boe O'Dell and Brayden Campbell also return to the team from last year. Carmichael said that both have shown potential and he's hoping they can improve this year.
Schedule overview
Carmichael said his team was excited for the Springs Valley Invitational on Saturday, April 2, as that course is a PGA course. The team hadn't been able to practice much ahead of that tournament because of the weather, and they struggled with the challenging course and the other good teams at the event.
The Thunderbirds are expecting tough competition at the Edgewood Invitational at Cascades Golf Course on April 16. And they know the SWIAC Invitational at Phil Harris Golf Course on May 14 will also be tough.
Outlook/Expectations
Eastern Greene is a young squad. Carmichael is pleased to have more golfers on the team this year, after the Thunderbirds had only five players last year. Additional team members will provide more competition to crack the lineup. It's another building year for Carmichael and the program, but he said he's in stage two of his vision. He just wants to see his players improve this season.
"Last year, whenever they were struggling to hit the ball, they were laughing about it. Now they've played over a year, and they start to get mad when they hit a bad shot," Carmichael said. "(With) seven (golfers on the team), we'll have some competition in practice where we can play for scores. I'm excited about that, and I think they're really excited to have some more people on the team."
Follow Herald-Times sports reporter Seth Tow on Twitter @SethTow, or email him at stow@heraldt.com.
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Missing Wisconsin toddler found safe
Published: Apr. 10, 2022 at 8:48 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW/Gray News) - The Milwaukee Police Department has cancelled an Amber Alert for 3-year-old Musyc Hart, WSAW reported.
The missing toddler was found safe.
Copyright 2022 WSAW via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.kttc.com/2022/04/10/amber-alert-issued-milwaukee-toddler-believed-be-danger/
| 2022-04-10T15:06:46
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Fishermen rescue teens who were swept out to sea
MOSS LANDING, Calif. (KSBW) - Two 16-year-olds are safe after a terrifying ordeal off the coast of California when they got swept up by a riptide while swimming in the ocean.
It was three fishermen returning to Moss Landing, Calif., after a day of salmon fishing who very well may have saved the young swimmers from drowning.
“Thank God we were there because there was nobody behind us and there were no boats coming out. It would’ve taken them at least half an hour to get there and in that water, you can’t last 10 minutes,” boat captain Mike Arujo said.
Lifeguards say the teens were swept out by a rip current and in the water for nearly 30 minutes.
The water temperature was 53 degrees and hypothermia was setting in when they were rescued.
“I grabbed the first girl and helped her up. She was so cold... and she just collapsed on the deck,” Arujo said.
The fishermen say they may have never come across the girls had they not decided to stay in the water longer to catch a sixth salmon and limit out.
THey finally caught the big fish and came across those girls at just the right time.
“It was a close call for those girls, and they didn’t have a whole lot longer. I mean neither one of them could stand up when they got on the boat, and the one young lady said she couldn’t feel her legs,” fisherman Bill Weilbacher said. “They didn’t have a lot of time left so everything worked out as well as it possibly could have and the stars were really aligned for them.”
The girls were checked by paramedics at the harbor and released to their parents.
Copyright 2022 KSBW via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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US official: Russia appoints new Ukraine war commander
WASHINGTON (AP) — After its striking post-invasion setbacks, Russia has appointed a new Ukraine war commander, a U.S. official said Sunday.
Russia has turned to Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia’s most experienced military officers and — according to U.S. officials — a general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theaters. The senior official who identified the new commander was not authorized to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity.
But the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said “no appointment of any general can erase the fact that Russia has already faced a strategic failure in Ukraine.”
“This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians,” Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And the United States, as I said before, is determined to do all that we can to support Ukrainians as they resist him and they resist the forces that he commands.”
WARNING: Videos may contain graphic content.
The decision to establish new battlefield leadership comes as Russia gears up for what is expected to be a large and more focused push to expand Russian control in the Donbas and follows a failed opening bid to conquer Kyiv, the capital.
Dvornikov gained prominence while leading the Russian group of forces in Syria, where Moscow has waged a military campaign since 2015 to shore up President Bashar Assad’s regime during a devastating civil war.
Dvornikov is a career military officer and has steadily risen through the ranks after starting as a platoon commander in 1982. He fought during the second war in Chechnya and took several top positions before being placed in charge of the Russian troops in Syria in 2015.
In 2016, Putin awarded Dvornikov the Hero of Russia medal, one of the country’s highest awards. Dvornikov has served as the commander of the Southern Military District since 2016.
Sullivan described the general as having a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and said “we can expect more of the same in this theater.” But he stressed that the U.S. strategy remains the same in providing Ukraine the military and logistical support it needs.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Q: A 7th- or 8th-place finish gives Nets the power to select whether they prefer to face, the first or second seed in the first round. — Leonard, Cornelius, N.C.
A: In theory, yes. But that is a very dangerous game to play in the play-in round. If the Nets close at No. 7 or No. 8, a win in their initial play-in game (No. 7 vs. No. 8 for the No. 7 seed) would have them most likely facing the No. 2 Bucks in the first round. But, say, as you suggest, that the preference would be facing the No. 1 Heat. In that case, the Nets, by throwing the Nos. 7-8 game, would have a win-or-go home game for No. 8 (vs. the winner of Nos. 9-10). I highly doubt Brooklyn would want to put itself in such a precarious position after all their team has been through this season. At this stage, the Nets just need to secure a playoff spot. Tanking the play-in opener is playing with fire. As it is, we have to wait until Sunday’s results to see how the seedings shake out for the East play-in round.
Q. OMG, Victor Oladipo did not get any playing time at all. — Jearia.
A: I’m not sure that should come as much of a surprise, considering the Heat opted to play Friday night’s game against the Hawks with their primary rotation. That simply is not where Victor Oladipo stands at the moment. It will be interesting to see if he is willing to play alongside the Heat’s B-team on Sunday in Orlando. Such a moment might be considered humbling, but it also could be a last chance to make a pre-playoff impression.
Q: I cannot help but to be amazed by the stark differences top to bottom between the organizations of the Lakers and the Heat. It makes me quite happy being a Heat fan over the years. —Rolando, Borrego Springs, Calif.
A: Whether you buy into the notion of Culture (capital C) or not, some organizations simply have a solid foundation that creates stability. Or you could be the Lakers or the Knicks.
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| 2022-04-10T15:07:18
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With the Miami Heat putting Sunday’s game against the Orlando Magic in proper perspective, the team took flight without Jimmy Butler. But if you believe Bam Adebayo, there was a chance long ago that the team manifest would have included Butler and not himself.
During an appearance on J.J. Redick’s Old Man and the Three podcast, Adebayo told the former NBA 3-point specialist and current ESPN analyst that one season into his Heat career, he almost was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Butler at the start of 2018-19.
At the time, Butler had been pushing for his departure from the Timberwolves, eventually to be traded on Nov. 12, 2018 to the Philadelphia 76ers for Robert Covington and Dario Saric. The Heat had been pushing at the time with an offer of Josh Richardson, Dion Waiters and draft capital to the ‘Wolves. Richardson then would be dealt the following summer to Philadelphia in a sign-and-trade package for Butler.
“You heard the Minnesota situation,” Adebayo said on the recently released podcast. “And it’s crazy, because I almost got traded for Jimmy, to Minnesota.”
At the time, Adebayo was coming off an uneven rookie season after he was drafted No. 13 out of Kentucky by the Heat in 2017, playing his initial NBA season as Hassan Whiteside’s understudy.
That, Adebayo said, is when Heat president Pat Riley stepped in.
“But I almost got traded for Jimmy,” Adebayo continued. “Pat wouldn’t trade me. Like he was, ‘Nah, I see something good in this kid.’ Yadda, yadda, yadda.
“And, at that point, I’m sweating bullets. Like, I’m not trying to be traded. I like it in Miami. It’s warm. I kind of got my feet wet. I’m familiar with the place.”
Deeper appreciation
With almost the entire Heat roster at some point sidelined this season by NBA health-and-safety protocols, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said his own absence last week for those reasons gave him a deeper appreciation for the predicament.
“The thing about it is we’ve all been in this situation now, where we’ve been a part of it,” Spoelstra said, “and we’ve also been a part of it where we’ve been on the outside looking in. And I felt like I was left out.
“So now I got to experience that, and it is just good to be back in the mix.”
Spoelstra tested positive last Sunday in Toronto, missing the Heat’s ensuing victories over the Raptors and Charlotte Hornets, before returning to coach Friday night’s victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Assistant Chris Quinn had coached in his place.
While the NBA no longer requires COVID testing, teams must produce negative tests in order to fly back into the United States. Toronto stands as a potential Heat second-round playoff opponent, which could put Spoelstra and his players in a similar testing situation in two weeks.
Lowry appreciation
Spoelstra said these past few weeks have been a study in veteran point guard Kyle Lowry moving into playoff mode.
“I’ve really enjoyed watching his entire process, for the regular season,” Spoelstra said. “He’s shifted. He’s been a chameleon into a lot of different roles: breathing life into guys, giving confidence to young guys, letting people get into a great rhythm, facilitating. You’ve seen times during the year, when we had injuries, when he was more assertive.
“But you can see in the last three weeks he’s really been focused on getting ready for the playoffs, and it’s a different level. Because he has all the skills, the shooting. But he knows to just manipulate and take advantage of different cracks and defenses.”
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The manufacturer of the Chicago Cubs’ 2016 World Series championship rings filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against an auction house and collector over a replica ring bearing Ben Zobrist’s name that the lawsuit says was stolen.
The manufacturing company, Jostens, said the duplicate ring is worth more than $75,000. Jostens is seeking monetary damages to be determined at trial.
Jostens contends in the lawsuit Heritage Auctions has not returned the “stolen” sample ring that was slated to be auctioned off last year and its collector “will not release his claim to the title to the stolen sample.”
Jostens in the lawsuit said Heritage Auctions indicated it would not transfer possession “without a duly executed release of title claim or a court order directing the release of the ring.”
When the auction house tweeted last June that Zobrist’s would be the first Cubs player ring to hit the auction block, speculation as to why the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 World Series would sell his valuable possession was rampant, including in the Cubs clubhouse.
One player said Zobrist’s former teammates could buy the ring at auction and then give it back to him. Heritage Auctions told the Kansas City Star the ring’s owner was “a collector of championship hardware” and had bought it from Zobrist.
But the day after the story went viral in 2021, Zobrist denied he had sold his ring. His representatives sent to the Tribune a time-stamped photo of Zobrist wearing the ring to prove it was still in his possession.
“I had a conversation with him twice,” agent Scott Pucino told the Tribune that day. “I said, ‘Are you sure you’re not selling it?’ He said, ‘No, it makes no sense. Why would I sell this ring? I’m never going to get rid of this ring — never, never, ever.’”
Heritage Auctions attorney Josh Benesh declined to comment on the particulars of the lawsuit or whether the ring in question was real. When the dispute over the title to the ring began last June, it was removed from the auction block and remained in Heritage’s possession.
“Heritage has a strict policy of assuring that our consigners represent and warrant that they have good title and would never knowingly sell an item that was stolen,” Benesh said. “Nor would we ever knowingly sell an item where there was a question to its authenticity.”
The auction house appears to be caught in the middle while the consigner and Jostens both claim ownership, a question that will now be decided in court after the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement. Players often are able to order duplicate championship rings to wear or display while the real one is kept in a safe place.
According to those who have seen the duplicate of the Cubs’ championship ring, it’s very similar to the actual ring but with some alterations that are noticeable upon closer inspection.
Zobrist’s revelation he still had his championship ring seemed to be the end of the story.
But according to the lawsuit, Heritage Auctions contacted Jostens on June 10, 2021, and was informed that their ring was a duplicate that had been stolen. Jostens, with the Cubs’ permission, had made a sample ring modeled after Zobrist’s with “distinguishing features” to differentiate it from the actual World Series rings distributed to the players, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims that in February 2018, a Jostens designer left seven sample rings, including the Zobrist sample, with another professional sports organization that was looking at making its own championship rings.
At some point the rings were stolen, according to the lawsuit.
“A police report was filed,” the suit said, “but the stolen rings were never recovered.”
Jostens was able to determine from the Heritage Auction photo of the ring on its Twitter account that it was the sample ring. According to the lawsuit, Jostens claims it “attempted to work with Heritage Auctions and (the collector) for months to recover” the “stolen property.”
The suit states the original rings were created to commemorate “the first World Series Championship in the franchise’s history.” However, the Cubs also won in 1907 and ’08, but rings were not rewarded for those championships.
The suit says Heritage Auctions informed Jostens it would maintain possession until “its authenticity and ownership” was resolved, leading to the lawsuit. The suit said Jostens demands a “trial by jury on all of its claims and any other matters so triable.”
“We’re grateful that we have been able to work with Heritage to stop the auction of our sample ring,” said Chris Poitras, Jostens general manager of professional and collegiate sports, in a statement. “But it’s unfortunate that we have had to take legal action to get it back. We are eager to see this ring returned to Jostens.”
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A fatal neighborhood shooting spree in Roseville and a decision to not prosecute a Minneapolis policeman who fatally shot a legally armed, innocent citizen in a no-knock warrant both highlight an important economic fact: tabulated Gross Domestic Product is not the same as human well-being. These local news items from last week also exemplify the economic phenomena of “negative externalities” and “path dependency.”
As context here, our nation has gone bat-guano insane about firearms. This affects us economically. But before you Second Amendment absolutists rain down reactions upon my head, understand my background: I have enjoyed shooting since age 11, currently own nine firearms, four of which are semi-automatic and, counting .22 rimfire, possess thousands of rounds of ammunition. One gun in my collection meets the 1990s legal definition of an “assault rifle.” So don’t waste time emailing me that I don’t understand firearms or the U.S. Constitution.
The economics issues here start with the obvious fact that people in our nation spend tremendous amounts of money on firearms and ammunition. Yet we cannot fully quantify how much because of laws forbidding government recording of gun purchases and ownership.
Still, in the U.S. we have at least 300 million operable guns, and perhaps as many as 400 million, for a population of 333 million. Yet fewer than half of all households own even one gun. That some 1.3 million background check requests were submitted on one frenetic weekend in 2020 says much. Perhaps as many as 40 million sales were completed that year.
Gross domestic product measures the market value of new goods and services turned out in an economy over a set period of time. These products can be for consumers — food, clothing, shelter, or businesses — locomotives, software, warehouses. Governments buy police cruisers, aircraft carriers and textbooks. Soybeans are bought and exported to the Netherlands and sawlogs to Japan.
Services are counted in GDP as well, “luxuries” as well as necessities. After necessities, households may buy baseball and theater tickets, camping gear, pedicures and books. Others opt for tattoos, pitchers of margaritas, lap dances or porn.
All this promotes further economic activity. A fitness craze prompts production of exercise gear, Fitbits, and yoga mats. Greater bar-hopping spurs liquor production — and residual demand for EMTs, police officers, wreckers, ER surgeons and treatment programs. Increased demand for guns has analogous effects.
Economists tend to shun value judgments. There is no objective proof that $1,000 spent on kids camps, gymnastics and cello lessons benefits society more than if it was spent on AR-15 clones, spare pistol magazines, under-dashboard holsters and body armor.
But I’d argue most people would find an “our kids will be happier and healthier if they go to camp next summer,” decision better than “each of us needs to carry a pistol everywhere and we need an AK47 with 5,000 rounds of ammo in the house.”
That last, of course, is an extreme. Some people buy guns because they like to hunt or target shoot and have these recreational activities ingrained in their families. Some start carrying guns because they are gang members and everyone in rival gangs has guns. Some QAnon believers buy guns because they foresee bloody apocalyptic battles for survival of the white race. And many millions of others buy guns because of nonspecific but pervasive fears that our nation, or our city, has become a more dangerous place. Self-arming becomes a necessity and this is a tragedy of our national psyche.
Does this all, however, represent a major use of economic resources? In 2021, the Wall Street Journal, using FBI data, asserted that 40 million guns had been sold in our country in 2020. If all were new and were semiautomatic pistols such as Glock or Sig-Sauer or AR15 or AK47 wannabes, minimal costs, with accessories and some ammunition, would range from $1,000 to $2,000 each.
This estimated total outlay of $40 billion to $80 billion is piffling compared to a $22 trillion GDP for 2020, less than half of 1 percent. The upper sum is about two-fifths of household spending on toiletries or half of spending on household cleaning products.
On the other hand, $80 billion is 14 times annual outlays for the U.S. government’s WIC food supplement program and 13 times those of federal Child Development Block Grants for early childhood education. Families could send 40 million kids to a two-week overnight summer camp. So make your own judgements about the opportunity costs of spending this much on new guns that may or may not ever be used.
Then there are what economists call negative externalities. Despite the gun lobby mantra that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” accidental shootings, suicides and intentional homicides all increase with higher rates of gun ownership. And the relationships are not all linear with numbers of guns. When most Minnesota farm and small-town households had a .22 rifle or pump shotgun for plinking or occasional hunting, there were relatively fewer opportunities for accidents or for impulsive-rage shootings. Most gun owners had grown up in a culture of safe usage. But when tens of millions of people who never owned guns before start carrying semi-automatic pistols on their persons or tucked under car seats or sofa cushions, potential for accidental or impulsive shooting burgeons.
Gun control advocates often imply that excessive gun ownership in the U.S. facilitates suicide. But suicide is also culture-specific. Some nations, such as Belgium or Japan, have rates near the United States despite strict gun controls. Canada has a similar culture to ours overall, but only a fourth of the number of guns relative to population. Their suicide rate is a third lower, but not zero.
There are spillovers in policing. U.S. police are far, far quicker to shoot than those in any other wealthy industrialized country. No-knock warrants such as what occurred in February in Minneapolis are extremely rare in other countries. “Suicide by cop” is virtually unknown. And while there are school shootings or incidents in which an apparently mentally disturbed individual shoots up a neighborhood, as in Roseville, these occur at only a tiny fraction of rates here. But the caveat, of course, comes back to pervasive gun ownership: U.S. police must assume that they will have a gun pointed at them at any time, that any knock may evoke a burst of bullets back through the door.
This is all glum, but can get gloomier: “Path dependency” is how economists explain how, once a commitment is made to a certain path, change is difficult — even if change makes economic sense. Think 56.5-inch rail spacings or employer-provided health insurance. It also implies that simply reversing the path often is impossible. Once you have 300 million or 400 million guns floating around, measures like background checks at gun shows are mere symbolism. Banning and confiscating the guns would be impossible, even with a politically unlikely repeal of the Second Amendment. The result, very likely, would be civil war. Reclining loveseats and crossover sedans wear out, but civilian firearms hardly ever do. Two of my guns were made more than a century ago. Both remain deadly.
St. Paul economist and writer Edward Lotterman can be reached at stpaul@edlotterman.com.
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Roseville officer Ryan Duxbury, who was struck in the face by gunfire by an active shooter Tuesday night, was released from the hospital Saturday, according to a Facebook post by the Roseville Police Department.
“Our hero is home,” the department wrote in the post thanking Regions hospital. “A great end to what has undoubtedly been a difficult weekend for our department and community … Throughout this process, Ryan has shown a tremendous amount of grit, strength, and perseverance in the face of adversity. Ryan exemplifies everything we as a department aspire to be. Without question, he is a hero in all our eyes. Welcome home, Ryan.”
Duxbury had surgery Friday to remove a bullet lodged in his neck, according to a statement by police.
According to a GoFundMe page for Duxbury, as of early Friday night, the page had raised more than $67,000 toward his recovery, which police Chief Erika Scheider said will likely be “a long road to a full recovery.”
Duxbury has been with Roseville police since 2019. He was among 15 Roseville officers who responded to multiple rounds being fired by 53-year-old Jesse Werling in the 2900 block of West Owasso Boulevard on Tuesday, according to police.
Duxbury was shot as officers were setting up a perimeter, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Roseville officers Bryan Anderson and Boua Chang shot and struck Werling, who died at Regions Hospital.
In addition to his patrol work, Duxbury serves as a department field training officer, background investigator and recruitment liaison and wellness committee member. Last year, he was awarded three unit citations, and his file also includes numerous letters of appreciation, Scheider said.
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| 2022-04-10T15:07:42
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Missing Wisconsin toddler found safe
Published: Apr. 10, 2022 at 8:48 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW/Gray News) - The Milwaukee Police Department has cancelled an Amber Alert for 3-year-old Musyc Hart, WSAW reported.
The missing toddler was found safe.
Copyright 2022 WSAW via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/10/amber-alert-issued-milwaukee-toddler-believed-be-danger/
| 2022-04-10T15:10:43
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https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/10/amber-alert-issued-milwaukee-toddler-believed-be-danger/
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US official: Russia appoints new Ukraine war commander
WASHINGTON (AP) — After its striking post-invasion setbacks, Russia has appointed a new Ukraine war commander, a U.S. official said Sunday.
Russia has turned to Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia’s most experienced military officers and — according to U.S. officials — a general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theaters. The senior official who identified the new commander was not authorized to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity.
But the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said “no appointment of any general can erase the fact that Russia has already faced a strategic failure in Ukraine.”
“This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians,” Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And the United States, as I said before, is determined to do all that we can to support Ukrainians as they resist him and they resist the forces that he commands.”
WARNING: Videos may contain graphic content.
The decision to establish new battlefield leadership comes as Russia gears up for what is expected to be a large and more focused push to expand Russian control in the Donbas and follows a failed opening bid to conquer Kyiv, the capital.
Dvornikov gained prominence while leading the Russian group of forces in Syria, where Moscow has waged a military campaign since 2015 to shore up President Bashar Assad’s regime during a devastating civil war.
Dvornikov is a career military officer and has steadily risen through the ranks after starting as a platoon commander in 1982. He fought during the second war in Chechnya and took several top positions before being placed in charge of the Russian troops in Syria in 2015.
In 2016, Putin awarded Dvornikov the Hero of Russia medal, one of the country’s highest awards. Dvornikov has served as the commander of the Southern Military District since 2016.
Sullivan described the general as having a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and said “we can expect more of the same in this theater.” But he stressed that the U.S. strategy remains the same in providing Ukraine the military and logistical support it needs.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/10/us-official-russia-appoints-new-ukraine-war-commander/
| 2022-04-10T15:10:50
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https://www.1011now.com/2022/04/10/us-official-russia-appoints-new-ukraine-war-commander/
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HENDRICKS COUNTY — Sunday morning, Danville Police arrested a candidate for Hendricks County Sheriff on charges of drunk driving.
Sheriff candidate Terry Judy was arrested for Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated and Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated-Endangerment. According to a Hendricks County Public Information Officer, Judy retired from the Hendrick’s County Sheriff’s office in 2021 and is not a current employee of theirs.
This is an ongoing investigation and information is subject to change. We will continue to update this article as we receive more information.
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https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/candidate-for-hendricks-county-sheriff-arrested-for-drunk-driving/
| 2022-04-10T15:12:42
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https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/candidate-for-hendricks-county-sheriff-arrested-for-drunk-driving/
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(NEXSTAR) – President Biden has not only delayed student loan payments for another few months, but he’s also given some borrowers a bit of ‘forgiveness.’
The U.S. Department of Education described the additional pause as a good way for borrowers to plan for payments to begin again, which can help reduce “the risk of delinquency and defaults after restart.” For those who have already been impacted by delinquency and default, there’s an added bonus – you’re getting a “fresh start.”
Biden’s pause includes millions of federal loan borrowers having their delinquent or default status erased, allowing them to “reenter repayment in good standing,” the Education Department explained in a Wednesday release.
What does it mean to be delinquent and in default?
If you are just one day late on making a payment on your student loans, your loan becomes past due, otherwise known as delinquent, according to the Federal Student Aid Office. Until you pay that past due amount – or you make an arrangement like entering deferment or forbearance, or change your repayment plan – you remain in delinquency.
Once you’re delinquent for 90 days or more, your status is reported to three major national credit bureaus by your loan servicer. If you remain in delinquency, your loan may go into default (the exact time when your loan moves from delinquency to default depends on the loan you have).
There are many consequences of defaulting on your federal student loans, including the entire balance of your loan and interest that has accrued becoming immediately due; being taken to court; and losing the ability to choose a repayment plan, the Education Department explains. Some borrowers may also be subject to wage garnishment or the seizure of critical benefits like Social Security, according to Business Insider.
How many people are impacted?
More than 7 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans, according to Politico, which first reported the Education Department was considering the “fresh start” plan in October.
Even though borrowers in default will now have that status removed – there’s no clear timeline on when exactly that status will change for individuals – some may still miss payments when the pause lifts in September.
In late March, an analysis found 7.8 million borrowers – nearly one in three – were at high risk of missing loan payments if the pause ended in May. Authors of the analysis assigned borrowers to this group of “possible strugglers” if they were delinquent or in default on any loan during 2019 (the year before the pause); were in default on loans that were ineligible for the pause; if a new collection or bankruptcy appeared on their credit report during the pause; or if their most recent credit score was considered “deep subprime,” meaning it had fallen below 580.
“During the pause, we will continue our preparations to give borrowers a fresh start and to ensure that all borrowers have access to repayment plans that meet their financial situations and needs,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
What about actual student loan forgiveness?
Before Biden announced the fourth freeze on student loans, 96 lawmakers – 21 Senators and 75 members of the House – called on him to “cancel student debt now,” saying it would “provide long-term benefits to individuals and the economy, helping families buy their first homes, open a small business, or invest in their retirement. More broadly, canceling student debt would add tens of billions of dollars in GDP growth.”
During his campaign, Biden supported forgiving at least $10,000 in federal student loans per person but didn’t mention any cancellation in his statement on the latest pause. But, Education Secretary Cardona recently told NPR that “the conversations around loan forgiveness continue to happen.”
There is, however, confusion regarding Biden’s power to cancel student loans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said he lacks legal authority, instead commenting “That would be an act of Congress.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, on the other hand, has argued Biden could do it under the same legal provision Trump used to delay payments and interest accrual at the start of the pandemic, The Hill reports.
Earlier this year, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “We’re still looking at administrative options, but Congress can also send the president a bill that would provide $10,000 in debt relief, and he’d be happy to sign that bill.”
According to The Hill, Biden requested a memo from the Department of Education on his authority to forgive student debt through an executive order a year ago, but the administration hasn’t announced whether that memo is complete.
Still, there are thousands of Americans already eligible for some student loan forgiveness through various federal programs. That includes those working in specific industries and nearly 100,000 impacted by changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
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https://fox59.com/news/millions-of-student-loan-borrowers-getting-forgiveness-in-latest-pause/
| 2022-04-10T15:12:48
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https://fox59.com/news/millions-of-student-loan-borrowers-getting-forgiveness-in-latest-pause/
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(NEXSTAR) – The World Health Organization announced this week that 99% of the world’s population breathes poor-quality air, that when inhaled over time can cause cardiovascular and respiratory disease.
While cities in the developing world have the worst air quality, according to the WHO, pollution is still a problem in American cities. There are chronic sources of air pollution, like vehicle traffic on busy highways, as well as seasonal issues, like smoke from wildfires.
The American Lung Association tracks air pollution in U.S. cities. Its annual report uses data from the Environmental Protection Agency on the presence of two types of pollutants: ozone (or smog) and particulate matter. Particulate matter has many sources, such as transportation, power plants, agriculture, fires and industry – as well as from natural sources like desert dust.
Using the EPA data, the report ranks the most and least polluted metro areas.
The cities with the highest amount of ozone pollution (or smog) are:
- Los Angeles-Long Beach, California
- Bakersfield, California
- Visalia, California
- Fresno-Madera-Hanford, California
- Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona
- Sacramento-Roseville, California
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, California
- Denver-Aurora, Colorado
- Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, Utah
- San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California
The cities with the worst year-round particle pollution are:
- Bakersfield, California
- Fresno-Madera-Hanford, California
- Visalia, California
- Los Angeles-Long Beach, California
- Medford-Grants Pass, Oregon
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California
- Phoenix-Mesa, Arizona
- Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, Pennsylvania/Ohio/West Virginia
- El Centro, California
“Particulate matter, especially PM2.5, is capable of penetrating deep into the lungs and entering the bloodstream, causing cardiovascular, cerebrovascular (stroke) and respiratory impacts,” WHO said. “There is emerging evidence that particulate matter impacts other organs and causes other diseases as well.”
The American Lung Association also keeps track of which cities have the least air pollution.
The ten cities with the cleanest air, free of particle pollution are:
- Urban Honolulu, Hawaii
- Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii
- Cheyenne, Wyoming
- Wilmington, North Carolina
- Casper, Wyoming
- St. George, Utah
- Bellingham, Washington
- Elmira-Corning, New York
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Duluth, Minnesota/Wisconsin
There are many cities that also scored well for smog-free air, but because they all had similar readings, the ALA did not rank them. You can see the full list of clean air cities in the American Lung Association’s report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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https://fox59.com/news/the-us-cities-with-the-dirtiest-and-cleanest-air/
| 2022-04-10T15:12:54
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https://fox59.com/news/the-us-cities-with-the-dirtiest-and-cleanest-air/
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We started off Sunday with light winds, clear skies, and sub-freezing lows! Many spots dropped into the mid-20s early in the day, including Crawfordsville, Anderson, and Batesville. Widespread frost also formed early this morning, which prompted the Freeze Warning for south-central Indiana.
Temperatures will quickly recover today due to southerly winds and strong sunshine. Highs this afternoon are going to be nearly 20° warmer compared to Saturday! Temperatures will peak into the mid-60s, which is closer to Indy’s average high for the date (average high: 62°).
The weather looks ideal for baseball today. The Indianapolis Indians have a game against the Omaha Storm Chasers set to start at 1:35 PM. Skies will remain mostly sunny with the breeze picking up late in the game.
Cloud cover builds tonight ahead of another storm system. After midnight, light rain will move into west-central Indiana and fill into the area during the predawn hours.
Keep the rain gear on hand throughout the day because scattered showers and a few embedded thunderstorms are going to be possible. Highs should still climb into the mid-60s.
More storms are on the way this week. Tuesday should have more dry time compared storm coverage on Wednesday. We are still a few days out, but some of the storms on Wednesday may potentially become strong to severe ahead of a cold front. Stay tuned for updates in the coming days!
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https://fox59.com/weather/pleasant-end-to-weekend-tracking-more-rain-this-week/
| 2022-04-10T15:13:00
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https://fox59.com/weather/pleasant-end-to-weekend-tracking-more-rain-this-week/
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SCIOTO — The Ohio Academy of Science determined that Science Days would be held virtually for the second year due to restrictions related to the pandemic. Students were permitted to register directly to District 14 Science Day (without needing to participate in the Scioto County Science Day).
The South Central Ohio Service Center’s Gifted Services Department paid the registration fees for students to participate in District Science Day as a way of encouraging students to take part in this event. Students were required to create video presentations of their projects, submit research papers, and register with the Ohio Academy of Science in order to participate. Videos were 15 to 20 minutes in length and students were given prompts to help them with talking points. Volunteer judges from around the state were recruited to watch the videos and score students’ projects based on the following criteria: oral, written and visual communication, originality of project concept, experimental design, and depth of understanding. From this round of judging students received ratings of Superior, Excellent, Good, or Satisfactory.
Briar VanSickle and Kaiden Gampp of Minford, Lainey Cook and Viviana Wheeler of Notre Dame, and Donavon Ehrhart of Wheelersburg all received ratings of Excellent. Finley Noel and Chloe Lucas of Notre Dame and Serena Kataria, Addison Mullins, and Ethan Mullins of Wheelersburg received Superior ratings.
In the next round of judging local Scioto County sponsors watched the students’ videos to determine who would receive their Sponsor Awards and at the same time District 14 sponsors were determining their awards as well. Sharee Price, Gifted Services Coordinator at the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center, coordinated the efforts between the Ohio Academy of Science, District 14 Science Day coordinators, and local sponsors to award Scioto County students.
Scioto County Sponsor Awards went to the following: The Scioto County Farm Bureau Award of $100 was presented to Addison Mullins of Wheelersburg and the Scioto County Soil and Water Conservation District also selected Addison to receive their award of $50.
Special Recognition Awards of $300 each were presented to the following students who all received Superior ratings at the District 14 Science Day: Serena Kataria, Addison Mullins, and Ethan Mullins of Wheelersburg; and Chloe Lucas and Finley Noel of Notre Dame.
Certificates and medallions were provided for all Scioto County students who received Superior ratings at District 14 Science Day and awards from local sponsors. Locally this event was supported by William and Barbara Burke, Velma Feagans, Dr. Jonathan Lucas, Dr. Michael & Mrs. Mary Martin, Portsmouth Rotary Club, Scioto County Farm Bureau, Scioto County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Scioto Foundation, Shawnee Animal Clinic, Shawnee Nature Club, and SOMC.
District 14 Science Day is coordinated by Dr. John Means at the University of Rio Grande. District 14 Awards were presented to six Scioto County students. Addison Mullins was awarded the Water Environment Science Award of $100 and the Emerging Scientist Award in Earth & Biological Sciences in the amount of $50. Viviana Wheeler of Notre Dame won an Honorable Mention in the Emerging Scientist Award in Behavioral & Social Sciences category. Serena Kataria won an Emerging Scholar Award of $50 from the University of Rio Grande
Honors Program. Ethan Mullins was awarded the OTTA College Advantage 529 Saving Plan Award in the form of a $250 Scholarship and Finley Noel and Chloe Lucas were chosen as alternates for this award.
Since Serena Kataria, Addison Mullins, Ethan Mullins, Chloe Lucas, and Finley Noel all received Superior ratings at District Science Day they are now eligible to advance to State Science Day, which will also be judged virtually. State Science Day results will be announced in June.
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https://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/news/74490/scioto-county-science-day-and-district-14-science-day-awards-announced
| 2022-04-10T15:16:12
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https://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/news/74490/scioto-county-science-day-and-district-14-science-day-awards-announced
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PORTSMOUTH — Shawnee State University has announced a Free Tuition Initiative – offering free tuition to Pell-eligible first-time students who have a minimum 3.0 GPA and 18 ACT score living in Scioto, Lawrence, Adams, Pike, Jackson, and Ross counties in Ohio, as well as Greenup, Boyd, and Lewis counties in Kentucky.
“We’ve been making college possible at Shawnee State since our beginning, and low tuition has been a cornerstone of that tradition,” said SSU President Jeff Bauer. “By making tuition cost-free for the students and families who need it most, we are making sure that a college education is even more accessible.”
Eligibility requirements include being a first-time undergraduate student entering SSU in Fall 2022 (including College Credit Plus students who earned college credit while in high school), being a resident of Scioto, Lawrence, Adams, Pike, or Ross counties in Ohio, or Greenup, Boyd, or Lewis counties in Kentucky, qualifying for Federal Pell Grant (as determined by FAFSA), having a high school GPA of at least 3.0 and an ACT score of at least 18. Students must enroll at SSU as a full-time student and maintain full-time status.
“This is tremendous news for students, families, our community, and all of us,” said President Bauer. “Today, we are taking our mission of service to the region to a new level.”
Application for the Free Tuition Initiative is automatically considered when students complete their general university application. To learn more about the Free Tuition Initiative at Shawnee State University, visit www.shawnee.edu/free-tuition.
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https://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/news/74493/ssu-announces-free-tuition-to-need-based-students-from-southern-ohio-and-northern-kentucky
| 2022-04-10T15:16:18
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https://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/news/74493/ssu-announces-free-tuition-to-need-based-students-from-southern-ohio-and-northern-kentucky
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin may use the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as a pretext to order a new campaign to interfere in American politics, U.S. intelligence officials have assessed.
Intelligence agencies have so far not found any evidence that Putin has authorized measures like the ones Russia is believed to have undertaken in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections in support of former President Donald Trump, according to several people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive findings.
But given Putin’s antipathy toward the West and his repeated denunciations of Ukraine, officials believe he may see the U.S. backing of Ukraine’s resistance as a direct affront to him, giving him further incentive to target another U.S. election, the people said. It is not yet clear which candidates Russia might try to promote or what methods it might use.
The assessment comes with the U.S. electoral system already under pressure. The American public remains sharply divided over the last presidential election and the insurrection that followed at the U.S. Capitol, when supporters of Trump tried to stop the certification of his loss to President Joe Biden. Trump has repeatedly assailed intelligence officials and claimed investigations of Russian influence on his campaigns to be political vendettas.
Tensions between Washington and Moscow have reached levels not seen since the end of the Cold War. The White House has increased military support for Ukraine, which has mounted a robust resistance against Russian forces accused of committing war crimes, and helped impose global sanctions that have crippled Russia’s economy.
There’s no sign the war will end soon, which some experts say could delay Moscow from pursuing retaliation while its resources are mired in Ukraine. But “it’s almost certain that a depleted Russian military after Ukraine is going to again double down on hybrid tactics to wreak havoc against us and other allied countries,” said David Salvo, deputy director of the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy.
In Ukraine and in past campaigns against adversaries, Russia has been accused of trying to spread disinformation, amplifying pro-Kremlin voices in the West and using cyberattacks to disrupt governments.
Top U.S. intelligence officials are still working on plans for a new center authorized by Congress focusing on foreign influence campaigns by Russia, China and other adversaries. Avril Haines, the U.S. director of national intelligence, also recently appointed career CIA officer Jeffrey Wichman to the position of election threats executive several months after the departure of the previous executive, Shelby Pierson.
“Our Election Threats Executive continues to lead the Intelligence Community’s efforts against foreign threats to U.S. elections,” said Nicole de Haay, a spokesperson for Haines, in a statement. “We’re also continuing to work to deliver on the legislative requirement to create a center to integrate intelligence on foreign malign influence.”
De Haay declined to comment on what intelligence officials think of Putin’s intentions. Russia’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
Foreign adversaries have long looked to interfere in American politics, according to investigations of past elections and indictments brought against alleged foreign agents. The U.S. has accused Putin of ordering influence operations to try to help Trump in the 2020 election. And a bipartisan Senate investigation of the 2016 election confirmed intelligence findings that Russia used cyber-espionage and information efforts to boost Trump and disparage his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation found no conclusive evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia, but Mueller declined to pass judgment on whether Trump obstructed justice.
Trump continues to falsely insist that the election he lost to Biden was stolen, with Republicans in many states following his lead and opposing election security measures.
Law enforcement and intelligence agencies continuously investigate foreign influence efforts. The Justice Department last month charged five men with acting on behalf of China to harass Chinese dissidents in the U.S. and derail a little-known congressional candidate.
Experts say the proposed Foreign Malign Influence Center would bring much-needed direction to efforts across government studying adversaries. Congress provided partial funding for the center in the budget passed last month because the budget funds the government through September and not a full year.
The center has been previously delayed over questions within the intelligence director’s office and on Capitol Hill about its structure and size and whether it would unnecessarily duplicate efforts that already exist in government. In a sign that some of those questions remain unresolved, Congress last month also required the director’s office to complete within six months a report on the “future structure, responsibilities, and organizational placement” of the center.
Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the committee was closely watching “the malign activities of our adversaries” and the proposed center could be one way to help.
“As Russia continues to use disinformation campaigns in Ukraine, we are reminded to be strategic in our response to countering their tactics,” Turner said. “It is no secret that our adversaries use disinformation to undermine the national security interests of the U.S., so we must take into account all viable options to protect our democracy.”
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https://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/news/74496/intel-putin-may-cite-ukraine-war-to-meddle-in-us-politics
| 2022-04-10T15:16:25
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https://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/news/74496/intel-putin-may-cite-ukraine-war-to-meddle-in-us-politics
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The search for a St. Pete murder victim’s remains turned up no answers after detectives spent days looking for her burial site in Alabama.
Detectives learned of a potential lead in the search for Morgan Martin’s remains after the father of her unborn child, Jacobee Flowers, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on March 31.
Martin disappeared after leaving her home to see Flowers in 2012.
Court documents said Flowers was concerned about Martin having his child since she was 17, and he was 24 at the time. He was also in another relationship.
Flowers told St. Petersburg police that Martin’s remains were in a field in Pike County, Alabama, approximately 458.1 miles away.
Police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez said the location was a cotton field on a farm next to US-231.
Fernandez told 8 On Your Side Sunday that the detectives returned from Alabama Saturday evening, but nothing was found.
Without the return of Martin’s remains, Flowers could face up to 40 years in prison for murdering her as part of the plea agreement. If detectives found her remains, his sentence would have been 25 years.
Flowers’ sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 28.
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https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/search-for-st-pete-teens-remains-in-alabama-field-finds-no-answers/
| 2022-04-10T15:22:46
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https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/search-for-st-pete-teens-remains-in-alabama-field-finds-no-answers/
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — One man was killed and five people wounded in a shooting that happened after police say a fight broke out during a birthday celebration in Indianapolis.
The shooting was reported about 3:20 a.m. Sunday at an event hall on the city’s northwest side. Officers found a man dead inside the building while five wounded people went to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
Indianapolis police Lt. Shane Foley said investigators believe the fight started during a late-night birthday party and were trying to speak with witnesses and gather any video of what happened. No arrests were immediately announced.
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https://www.wane.com/news/indiana/man-killed-5-wounded-in-shooting-at-indianapolis-party/
| 2022-04-10T15:30:21
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https://www.wane.com/news/indiana/man-killed-5-wounded-in-shooting-at-indianapolis-party/
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SAN JOSE (KPIX) — A fire quickly grew into a 5-alarm inferno as flames engulfed a San Jose Home Depot store Saturday evening, triggering a response by dozens of firefighters and sending a massive cloud billowing skyward that was visible for miles.
The San Jose Fire Department said the blaze was burning in the store located in the 900 block of Blossom Hill Rd. across the street from Oakridge Mall.
The fire was burning so intensely, National Weather Service officials said it was appearing on their South Bay radar.
No injuries were reported as it appears store employees and customers were able to safely exit the building.
Meanwhile, firefighters have been forced to evacuate the nearby Wagly Veterinary Hospital and Pet Campus. Those looking to reunite with their pets were asked to go to Golfland San Jose, located at the corner of Winfield Boulevard and Blossom Hill Road.
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https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/video-5-alarm-blaze-engulfs-home-depot-in-san-jose/
| 2022-04-10T15:30:27
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https://www.wane.com/news/national-world/video-5-alarm-blaze-engulfs-home-depot-in-san-jose/
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The final round of the Masters is underway
Masters Sunday has arrived, and the first pairings are on the course at Augusta National.
Tiger Woods has teed off in his final round around 10:50 a.m. ET.
Wearing his traditional Sunday red, Woods started the day 7 over for the tournament and obviously not in contention. The five-time Masters champion began the day 16 shots behind leader Scottie Scheffler.
This was Woods' first official tournament since the pandemic-delayed Masters in November 2020. He had back surgery not long after that and then in February 2021 nearly lost his right leg when he crashed his car in the suburbs of Los Angeles.
Woods has been walking with a pronounced limp this week, but still defied long odds simply by getting back to Augusta National and able to play again. He's playing Sunday with reigning U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm.
Scottie Scheffler takes a three-shot lead into the final round. He'll tee off at 2:40 p.m. along with Cameron Smith.
Defending champion Hideki Matsuyama starts tied for 14th and begins at 1:10 p.m.
Forecasters expect a warmer day for the final round of the Masters. There was some frost in the Augusta area overnight, but players who were playing Sunday morning at the Masters clearly didn't have as many layers of attire on as many did on Saturday when temperatures struggled to get out of the 40s.
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https://www.koat.com/article/final-round-of-masters/39683509
| 2022-04-10T15:34:50
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https://www.koat.com/article/final-round-of-masters/39683509
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2 people are dead and 10 hospitalized after nightclub shooting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Two people were killed and about 10 others injured in a shooting at a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, nightclub early Sunday morning, police said.
The shooting happened just before 1:30 a.m. at the Taboo Nightclub and Lounge, the Cedar Rapids Police Department said in a statement. The club was hosting a 90s-themed party, according to a post on social media.
Cedar Rapids officers were on routine patrol downtown at the time of the shooting, the statement said, and were able to respond immediately.
Police have secured the scene and "there is no threat to public safety," the statement said.
Police did not release any information about possible suspects or arrests. The investigation remained ongoing Sunday morning and anyone "present at the time of the shooting or with knowledge of the incident" is asked to contact investigators, the statement said.
The injured are receiving medical care at multiple local hospitals.
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https://www.koat.com/article/nightclub-shooting-cedar-rapids-iowa/39682945
| 2022-04-10T15:35:00
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https://www.koat.com/article/nightclub-shooting-cedar-rapids-iowa/39682945
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Even as more companies return to the office, working from home remains a popular choice among employees.
Recent research from Microsoft, which surveyed 31,102 workers around the world between January and February, found that 52% of people are thinking of switching to a full-time remote or hybrid job this year.
Some places, however, are more suitable for remote, flexible work than others – at least according to a new report from WalletHub, which identifies the best and worst states for working from home.
To determine the list, the personal finance website compared 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions: Work environment and living environment.
Twelve metrics were used, including internet cost, cybersecurity, average home square footage and share of detached housing units, and metrics were weighted differently. To calculate the overall score, each state's weighted average across all metrics was used.
Here are the 10 best states for working from home, according to WalletHub's report:
1. New Jersey
Money Report
Total score: 66.75
Work environment ranking: 5
Living environment ranking: 11
2. District of Columbia
Total score: 64.29
Work environment ranking: 1
Living environment ranking: 50
3. Delaware
Total score: 64.03
Work environment ranking: 2
Living environment ranking: 38
4. Connecticut
Total score: 62.18
Work environment ranking: 12
Living environment ranking: 24
5. Massachusetts
Total score: 61.87
Work environment ranking: 3
Living environment ranking: 44
6. Utah
Total score: 61.87
Work environment ranking: 6
Living environment ranking: 27
7. Texas
Total score: 61.59
Work environment ranking: 15
Living environment ranking: 1
8. Washington
Total score: 61.57
Work environment ranking: 11
Living environment ranking: 19
9. Maryland
Total score: 61.48
Work environment ranking: 4
Living environment ranking: 41
10. New York
Total score: 61.11
Work environment ranking: 22
Living environment ranking: 5
WalletHub also identified the 10 worst states for working from home in its report: Alaska, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota and Arkansas topped the list, followed by Oklahoma, Wyoming, Hawaii, New Mexico and West Virginia.
States in the northeast ranked higher on the list as these places tend to offer more remote jobs, have stronger internet access and cybersecurity to better support telecommuters, Jill Gonzalez, a communications director at WalletHub, tells CNBC Make It.
New Jersey claimed the No. 1 spot for its close proximity to New York City, which offers ample remote and hybrid job opportunities, along with its high volume of detached housing units.
"There's less people living on top of each other, in small apartments with thin walls, like in some states with bigger cities," Gonzalez says. "Having a bigger home and more outdoor space makes a huge difference in well-being and just making work from home a little more pleasant."
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/business/money-report/these-are-the-10-best-and-worst-states-for-working-from-home-according-to-wallethub/3639084/
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This article was originally published on April 8 at 5:47pm EST by THE CITY
It was supposed to be just another routine weekly video conference for city Housing Authority bureaucrats to update managers on how things were going in public housing developments across the five boroughs.
And then it went off the rails.
One of the participants, a Bronx neighborhood administrator named Alex Tolozano, appeared in his Microsoft Teams window — naked and next to a woman.
Another NYCHA employee on the call began videotaping the meeting.
The video, obtained by THE CITY, reveals a blurry image of Tolozano with the woman and captures discussion among other NYCHA staff trying to figure out what was going on.
“So he’s laying in the bed,” one participant said.
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When the face of a woman appears in frame, another participant shouts, “Oh my God!”
Seconds later Tolozano appears in frame — also apparently nude. A chorus of “Oh my God! No!” and screaming ensues.
All of this lasted about two minutes on the internal NYCHA call that took place shortly after noon on Wednesday — in the middle of the work day.
Tolozano is responsible for overseeing management of several NYCHA developments in the Bronx. He was supposed to be participating in this regularly scheduled call as part of his work responsibilities as a city employee. Last year, he made $129,000, city records show.
Some 50 NYCHA employees, including upper level managers and superintendents of developments across the city, were listed as invitees on the video conference, sources familiar with the matter told THE CITY.
THE CITY attempted to contact Tolozano early Friday but no one answered a number listed under his name and by late Friday that number had been disconnected.
On Friday, in response to THE CITY’s inquiry, NYCHA officials described the incident like this: “During the meeting participants observed Alex Tolozano’s phone camera was on the screen for at least two minutes revealing that he was potentially engaged in inappropriate activity with another individual.”
In response to THE CITY’s questions about the virtual meeting, Barbara Brancaccio, NYCHA’s chief communications officer, confirmed in an email that the top levels of the housing authority learned of the incident soon after it happened.
By the end of Wednesday, NYCHA had suspended Tolozano without pay for 30 days while it looks into firing him.
“NYCHA took swift disciplinary action following this incident by immediately suspending the employee, initiating an investigation and beginning the administrative process for dismissal,” Brancaccio stated.
“Inappropriate activity, absconding from work, and time abuse are not tolerated at NYCHA and will be met with suitable consequences,” Brancaccio said. “Most importantly, NYCHA is working tirelessly to root out bad actors and create a culture of compliance, service, professionalism and respect, and we will not allow this unacceptable behavior to deter us from our mission or discourage or demoralize our extraordinary workforce.”
The Teams incident is just the latest black eye for the troubled agency.
The authority is the city’s biggest landlord, with 400,000 tenants in 175,000 apartments across the five boroughs. After years of press reports about mismanagement and squalid living conditions endured by public housing tenants, federal prosecutors launched an investigation that found agency managers had routinely lied about performing required lead paint inspections and covered up mold infestations, rat invasions and pervasive elevator breakdowns.
In January 2019, NYCHA and then Mayor Bill de Blasio entered into an agreement with federal prosecutors and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) that included the appointment of a federal monitor to oversee promised reforms. The monitorship is ongoing.
In January, NYCHA officials revealed to THE CITY that they had fired 18 lower-level trades staff after uncovering evidence that they’d been regularly putting in for overtime for hours they weren’t actually working. That investigation is ongoing and has broadened to include supervisors.
“NYCHA is undertaking an investigation that will culminate in a request for a General Trial,” Brancaccio stated. “During a General Trial NYCHA will present the evidence and could lead to further suspension or separation from service.”
Tolozaono, 53, joined the authority in 1988 and rose through the ranks. In 2016 he was a residential building superintendent making $84,000. After his promotion to administrative housing superintendent, he enjoyed several significant raises.
Over the course of his NYCHA career, Tolozano has been brought up on disciplinary proceedings over work performance issues three times prior to the explicit video conference, NYCHA officials said. Twice — in 1995 and in 2015 — he was temporarily suspended. After a 2014 hearing he was reprimanded.
The officials were unable to provide details of the prior issues that led to the sanctions.
THE CITY is an independent, nonprofit news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nycha-admin-suspended-after-apparent-sexual-acts-on-work-video-conference/3639113/
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces dug in and Russia's military lined up more firepower Sunday ahead of an expected showdown in eastern Ukraine that could become a decisive period in a war that has flattened cities, killed untold thousands and isolated Moscow economically and politically.
Experts say a full-scale offensive in the east could start within days, though questions remained about the ability of Russia's depleted and demoralized forces to conquer much ground after Ukraine's inspired defenders repelled their push to capture the capital, Kyiv.
Britain’s Defense Ministry reported Sunday that Russia’s armed forces were trying to compensate for mounting casualties by boosting troop numbers with personnel who had been discharged from service since 2012. Ukraine has the bulk of its military forces in the east: estimates vary, but they are believed to number in the tens of thousands.
Russia-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and control parts of the Donbas, a mostly Russian-speaking, industrial region. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, its troops have bombarded government-held territory. The anticipated offensive in the east and south could end up excising a vast swath of land from Ukraine.
On Sunday, Russian forces shelled Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in the northeast and sent reinforcements toward Izyum to the southeast in attempts to break Ukraine's defenses, the Ukrainian military command said. The Russians also kept up their siege of Mariupol, a key southern port that has been under attack and surrounded for nearly 1 ½ months.
A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said Russia's military used air-launched missiles to hit Ukraine’s S-300 air defense missile systems in the southern Mykolaiv region and at an air base in Chuhuiv, a city not far from Kharkiv.
Russia's sea-launched cruise missiles also destroyed the headquarters of a Ukrainian military unit stationed farther west in the Dnipro region, Konashenkov said. Neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian military claims could be independently verified.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for stronger military and political support from the West, including NATO members that have funneled weapons and military equipment to Ukraine since Russia invaded but denied some requests for fear of getting drawn into the war.
In a late night video message, Zelenskyy argued that more than Ukraine's future was at stake: Russia’s aggression “was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone” and the “entire European project is a target,” he said.
“That is why it is not just the moral duty of all democracies, all the forces of Europe, to support Ukraine’s desire for peace,” Zelenskyy said. ”This is, in fact, a strategy of defense for every civilized state.”
Zelenskyy thanked the president of the European Union's executive commission and Canada’s prime minister for a global fundraising event Saturday that brought in more than 10 billion euros ($11 billion) to help Ukrainians who have fled the war.
The U.N. refugee agency reported Sunday that more than 4.5 million people have left the country since the invasion started Europe's worst ground conflict since World World II. As of Friday night, the U.N.'s human rights commissioner had confirmed 1,766 civilian deaths from more than six weeks of fighting - - 630 of them in the Donbas - while acknowledging the toll was likely a vast undercount.
After British Prime Minister Boris Johnson went to Kyiv on a Saturday trip that the U.K. government did not announce in advance, Zelenskyy said they had decided “what help the United Kingdom will provide to the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine” and that it includes a “patronage” to rebuild the Kyiv region.
Ukrainian authorities have accused Russian forces of committing war crimes against thousands of civilians during the invasion. The alleged crimes took place during airstrikes on hospitals, a missile attack that killed 52 people at a train station in eastern Ukraine on Friday and as Russian soldiers withdrew from the outskirts of Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said that when he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke by phone Sunday, “we emphasized that all perpetrators of war crimes must be identified and punished.”
Ukraine has blamed Russia for alleged atrocities against civilians in Bucha and other towns outside the capital where hundreds of bodies, many with their hands bound and signs of torture, were found after the Russian troops retreated. Russia has denied engaging in war crimes and falsely claimed that the scenes in Bucha were staged.
After the Russian forces pulled out from the north this week to regroup for the push in the east, firefighters combed through the rubble of buildings to search for victims or survivors. Maria Vaselenko, 77, a resident of Borodyanka, said her daughter and son-in-law were killed, leaving her grandchildren orphaned.
“The Russians were shooting. And some people wanted to come and help, but they were shooting them. They were putting explosives under dead people," Vaselenko said. “That’s why my children have been under the rubble for 36 days. It was not allowed” to remove bodies.
In Mariupol, Russia was deploying Chechen fighters, reputed to be particularly fierce. Capturing the city on the sea of Azov would give Russia a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukriane eight years ago.
Residents have lacked food, water and electricity since Russian forces surrounded the city, making evacuations hard and supplying emergency relief even harder.
Zelenskyy has said he expects more evidence of atrocities to be found once Mariupol no longer is blockaded; Ukrainian authorities think an airstrike on a theater where civilians were sheltering killed hundreds.
“I am in shock. I don’t understand what is happening. I have a hole in my garage billowing smoke,” Mariupol resident Sergey Petrov told The Associated Press, describing a brush with death. “A shell flew in and broke up into two parts, but it did not explode. … My mother told me that I was born again on that day.”
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said more civilians were expected to leave Mariupol in their personal vehicles Sunday, while more evacuations were planned for a number of towns in the south and east.
The Institute for the Study of War, an American think tank, predicted Russian forces would focus their assault on the northern edge of a sickle-shaped arc of eastern Ukraine where the pro-Russia separatists and Russian forces have seized territory.
Russian forces will “renew offensive operations in the coming days” from Izyum, a town southeast of Kharkiv, to try to reach Slovyansk, even further southeast, the institute's analysts said. But in their view, “The outcome of forthcoming Russian operations in eastern Ukraine remains very much in question.”
Ukrainian officials have pleaded with Western powers almost daily to send more arms and further punish Moscow with sanctions, including the exclusion of Russian banks from the global financial system and a total EU embargo on Russian gas and oil.
In an interview with The Associated Press inside his heavily guarded presidential office complex on Saturday, Zelenskyy said he was committed to negotiating a diplomatic end to the war even though Russia has “tortured” Ukraine.
He also acknowledged that peace likely will not come quickly. Talks so far have not included Putin or other top Russian officials.
“We have to fight, but fight for life. You can’t fight for dust when there is nothing and no people. That’s why it is important to stop this war,” the president said.
In the interview with AP, Zelenskyy noted the increased support but expressed frustration when asked if weapons and equipment Ukraine has received from the West is sufficient to shift the war’s outcome.
“Not yet,” he said, switching to English for emphasis. “Of course it’s not enough.”
Anna reported from Bucha, Ukraine. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.
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RICHMOND, Calif. — Alysa Liu, a 2022 Olympian and world championships bronze medalist, is retiring from competitive figure skating at age 16.
Considered the future of U.S. women's skating and already a two-time national champion, Liu posted her decision Saturday on Instagram.
“I honestly never thought i would’ve accomplished as much as i did...” Liu said in her post. “I feel so satisfied with how my skating career has gone. now that i’m finally done with my goals in skating i’m going to be moving on with my life. ... this skating thing has taught me a lot more about life than i anticipated. i’m really glad i skated."
And skated better than any American woman at such a young age.
Using the triple axel that few U.S. women have landed successfully, Liu won her first national title in 2019 at age 13, and repeated the next year. She was too young to compete internationally on the senior level, however, and remained a force as a junior, getting comfortable with quadruple jumps as well.
But she lost to Bradie Tennell and Mariah Bell at the last two national championships, making the Olympic team despite having to withdraw from the trials in January when Liu tested positive for COVID-19.
Liu, of Richmond, California, recovered in time to skate in the Beijing Games, where she landed seven triple jumps in her free skate to finish seventh overall.
She then came in third behind Kaori Sakamoto of Japan and Loena Hendrickx of Belgium in a watered-down world championships with the Russian skaters not participating. It was the first medal at worlds for a U.S. woman since Ashley Wagner in 2016.
Now, Liu is done.
“I started skating when i was 5 so that’s about 11 years on the ice and it’s been an insane 11 years," she posted from Japan, where she was appearing in the Stars on Ice tour. "a lot of good and a lot of bad but (you know) that’s just how it is. i’ve made so many friends, and so so sooo many good memories that i’ll have for the rest of my life.”
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https://www.5newsonline.com/article/sports/olympics/olympic-figure-skater-alysa-liu-retirement/507-f43627bc-a187-4bc4-a813-8aa4a353e368
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“Small World,” the new novel by Jonathan Evison, is anything but small. The author of “West of Here” has written an expansive tale about the golden allure of America and has channeled it through the building of the transcontinental railroad.
What Evison has undertaken is Dickensian, although without the coming of age of, say, a David Copperfield or a Nicholas Nickleby or a “Pip.” “Small World” is, in essence, about the coming of age of America.
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https://www.annistonstar.com/features/entertainment/books/book-review-a-story-of-hope-survival-and-america-s-coming-of-age/article_0c7d6dec-b52d-11ec-b913-2ba1d0076918.html
| 2022-04-10T15:50:31
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April 10, 1947, in The Star: Thousands of residents, including school children, lined Anniston streets this morning hoping to get a glimpse of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as his motorcade passed through the downtown area en route to Fort McClellan. There, he inspected several post facilities and properties, all with an eye toward making a recommendation about the post’s future. Arriving at the Eastaboga Airport at 8:40 a.m., Gen. Eisenhower and his party passed though the flag-decorated downtown district around 9:10 a.m.. Thousands were on hand to greet the distinguished guest, who waved from an Army sedan — and even signed autographs for three boys, one of whom sped along along on his motorbike to keep abreast of the general’s car window. At the right time, Eisenhower agreed to sign 16-year-old Stanley Bowe’s autograph book. Also this date: Commercial National Bank will begin doing business tomorrow morning in its new and permanent home on the ground floor of what was formerly called the Wilson Building — but now will be known as the Commercial National Bank Building, 930 Noble Street. The bank, founded in 1920, was burned out of its previous home on Dec. 25, 1945. The bank acquired its present property in February 1946 and has been renovating it ever since. Windows are in place for seven tellers, the space will be air conditioned and lit by fluorescent lights and bank officers’ offices will be finished out in solid walnut and marble. The bank has 23 employees.
April 10, 1997, in The Star: Jerry Hielman, president and general manager of ABC 33/40 in the Birmingham area, has announced that fans of the ABC-TV sitcom “Ellen” will not be allowed to watch the “coming out” episode on his TV station. Because the actress herself, Ellen Generes, recently said she’s gay, her sitcom’s creative team decided it’s only fitting that the character she portrays do the same. Heilman said 33/40 won’t carry the special one-hour episode because “we do not think it is appropriate for family viewing.”
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https://www.annistonstar.com/features/look-back-to-gen-eisenhowers-visit-1947/article_dc5321f0-b89e-11ec-a715-7f70e00063af.html
| 2022-04-10T15:50:37
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Amber Heard is taking a social media break as she prepares to face off against her ex-husband Johnny Depp in court during a defamation trial and is hoping they both eventually put the past behind them.
In a rare statement on Instagram, posted Saturday, April 9, the 35-year-old Aquaman actress wrote, "I'm going to go offline for the next several weeks. As you may know, I'll be in Virginia, where I face my ex-husband Johnny Depp in court."
In a 2018 Washington Post op-ed, published two years after she filed for divorce from Depp, Heard wrote that "two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture's wrath for women who speak out." In March 2019, Depp filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit over the article, which makes no mention of the actor.
"Johnny is suing me for an op-ed I wrote in the Washington Post, in which I recounted my experience of violence and domestic abuse," Heard wrote in her Instagram post. "I never named him, rather I wrote about the price women pay for speaking out against men in power. I continue to pay that price, but hopefully when this case concludes, I can move on and so can Johnny."
She continued, "I have always maintained a love for Johnny and it brings me great pain to have to live out the details of our past life together in front of the world. At this time, I recognize the ongoing support I've been fortunate to receive throughout the years, and in these coming weeks I will be leaning on it more than ever. With love always, A"
The 58-year-old actor has not responded to her post, which she shared two days before their trial begins in Fairfax, Va. on Monday, April 11. The proceedings, estimated to last six weeks, will air on Court TV.
Heard first went public with allegations of domestic abuse against Depp in a 2016 temporary domestic violence restraining order against the actor, which she obtained just after she filed for divorce. He denied her allegations and the restraining order was dismissed with prejudice when the two finalized their divorce in 2017 after reaching an out-of-court settlement.
In his $50 million defamation lawsuit, the actor claims that his ex's Washington Post op-ed includes "false allegations" against him and "depends on the central premise that Ms. Heard was a domestic abuse victim and that Mr. Depp perpetrated domestic violence against her." He also alleges in the documents that Heard herself "violently abused" him during their relationship. Heard's attorney said in a statement at the time, "This frivolous action is just the latest of Johnny Depp's repeated efforts to silence Amber Heard. She will not be silenced."
Heard tried to get his lawsuit dismissed but was unsuccessful. In 2020, she filed a $100 million countersuit against her ex, alleging that after she was granted a temporary restraining order, Depp "unlawfully targeted" her in an "ongoing harassment and online smear campaign."
Dozens of witnesses are set to testify during the trial. Among them are her ex-boyfriend Elon Musk, who dated her for several months after her split from Depp, and actor James Franco--who will be called by Heard's legal team, while Paul Bettany will testify for Depp's. In 2019, Depp's legal team stated plans to subpoena Franco over surveillance footage of him entering an elevator with Heard after she reportedly had a fight with Depp. At the time, Heard's attorney called the video "irrelevant."
Musk and the two actors are set to appear remotely. Other witnesses include representatives from Disney, Warner Bros. Pictures and the Los Angeles Police Department.
The trial comes five months after Depp lost a libel case against U.K.-based News Group Newspapers over a 2018 article published by its tabloid The Sun, which labeled the actor a "wife beater" in reference to his marriage to Heard. She testified during that trial, alleging the actor verbally and physically abused her, which he denied.
The judge stated in the ruling, "Although he has proved the necessary elements of his cause of action in libel, the defendants have shown that what they published in the meaning which I have held the words to bear was substantially true."
In March 2021, the U.K. High Court denied Depp permission to appeal the ruling. "The Court in its judgment emphasized that an appeal against the decision of a trial judge on questions of disputed fact faced serious difficulties: of its judgment, and that none of the criticisms of the Judge's reasoning or conclusion advanced on behalf of Mr. Depp had a real prospect of success," the court said.
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| 2022-04-10T15:51:33
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Karla Finocchio's slide into homelessness began when she split with her partner of 18 years and temporarily moved in with a cousin.
The 55-year-old planned to use her $800-a-month disability check to get an apartment after back surgery. But she soon was sleeping in her old pickup protected by her German Shepherd mix Scrappy, unable to afford housing in Phoenix, where median monthly rents soared 33% during the coronavirus pandemic to over $1,220 for a one-bedroom, according to ApartmentList.com.
Finocchio is one face of America’s graying homeless population, a rapidly expanding group of destitute and desperate people 50 and older suddenly without a permanent home after a job loss, divorce, family death or health crisis during a pandemic.
“We’re seeing a huge boom in senior homelessness,” said Kendra Hendry, a caseworker at Arizona's largest shelter, where older people make up about 30% of those staying there. “These are not necessarily people who have mental illness or substance abuse problems. They are people being pushed into the streets by rising rents."
Academics project their numbers will nearly triple over the next decade, challenging policy makers from Los Angeles to New York to imagine new ideas for sheltering the last of the baby boomers as they get older, sicker and less able to pay spiraling rents. Advocates say much more housing is needed, especially for extremely low-income people.
Navigating sidewalks in wheelchairs and walkers, the aging homeless have medical ages greater than their years, with mobility, cognitive and chronic problems like diabetes. Many contracted COVID-19 or couldn't work because of pandemic restrictions.
“It’s so scary,” said Finocchio, her green eyes clouding with tears while sitting on the cushioned seat of her rolling walker. “I don’t want to be on the street in a wheelchair and living in a tent.”
It was Finocchio's first time being homeless. She's now at Ozanam Manor, a transitional shelter the Society of St. Vincent de Paul runs in Phoenix for people 50 and up seeking permanent housing.
At the 60-bed shelter, Finocchio sleeps in a college-style women’s dorm, with a single bed and small desk where she displays Scrappy’s photo. The dog with perky black ears is staying with Finocchio’s brother.
A stroke started 67-year-old Army veteran Lovia Primous on his downward spiral, costing him his job and forcing him to sleep in his Honda Accord. He was referred to the transitional shelter after recovering from COVID-19.
“Life has been hard," said Primous, who grew up on in a once- segregated African American neighborhood of south Phoenix. “I'm just trying to stay positive.”
Cardelia Corley ended up on the streets of Los Angeles County after the hours at her telemarketing job were cut.
Now 65, Corley said she was surprised to meet so many others who were also working, including a teacher and a nurse who lost her home following an illness.
“I’d always worked, been successful, put my kid through college,” the single mother said. “And then all of a sudden things went downhill.”
Corley traveled all night aboard buses and rode commuter trains to catch a cat nap.
"And then I would go to Union Station downtown and wash up in the bathroom,” said Corley. She recently moved into a small East Hollywood apartment with help from The People Concern, a Los Angeles nonprofit.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said in its 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Reportthe share of homeless people 50 and over in emergency shelters or transitional housing jumped from 22.9% in 2007 to 33.8% in 2017. More precise and recent nationwide figures aren’t available because HUD has since changed the methodology in the reports and lumps older people in with all adults over 25..
A 2019 study of aging homelesspeople led by the University of Pennsylvania drew on 30 years of census data to project the U.S. population of people 65 and older experiencing homelessness will nearly triple from 40,000 to 106,000 by 2030, resulting in a public health crisis as their age-related medical problems multiply.
Dr. Margot Kushel, a physician who directs the Center for Vulnerable Populationsat the University of California, San Francisco, said herresearch in Oakland on how homelessness affects health has shown nearly half of the tens of thousands of older homeless people in the U.S. are on the streets for the first time.
“We are seeing that retirement is no longer the golden dream,” said Kushel. "A lot of the working poor are destined to retire onto the streets."
That’s especially true of younger baby boomers, now in their late 50s to late 60s, who don’t have pensions or 401(k) accounts. About half of both women and men ages 55 to 66 have no retirement savings, according to the census.
Born between 1946 and 1964, baby boomers now number over 70 million, the census shows. With the oldest boomers in their mid 70s, all will hit age 65 by 2030.
The aged homeless also tend to have smaller Social Security checks after years working off the books. A third of some 900 older homeless people in Phoenix said in a recent survey they have no income at all.
Teresa Smith, CEO of the San Diego nonprofit Dreams for Change, said she's also noticed the homeless population is trending older. The group operates two safe parking lots for people living in cars.
Susan, who stayed at one lot, spoke only if her last name wasn't used because of the stigma surrounding homelessness.
The 63-year-old had kidney cancer while caring for her mother, then lost their two-bedroom apartment after her mom died. The cancer is now in remission.
Susan slept in her car with her dog at one of the gated parking lots that provide a bathroom, showers and a shared refrigerator and microwave.
She was stunned to see a man in his 80s living in a car there, calling it “just wrong.”
But residents enjoyed the community, grilling meals together and even surprising one in their group with a birthday cake.
Dreams for Change recently helped Susan get a one-bedroom apartment with a housing voucher after months of waiting.
With a washer and dryer, patio, dishwasher and bathtub, “I feel like I’m at the Ritz," she said.
Donald Whitehead Jr., executive director of the Washington-based advocacy group National Coalition for the Homeless, said that seeing older people sleep in cars and abandoned buildings should worry everyone.
“We now accept these things that we would have been outraged about just 20 years ago,” said Whitehead.
Whitehead said Black, Latino and Indigenous people who came of age in the 1980s amid recession and high unemployment rates are disproportionately represented among the homeless.
Many nearing retirement never got well-paying jobs and didn't buy homes because of discriminatory real estate practices.
“So many of us didn't put money into retirement programs, thinking that Social Security was going to take care of us,” said Rudy Soliz, 63, operations director for Justa Center, which offers meals, showers, a mail drop and other services to the aged homeless in Phoenix.
The average monthly Social Security retirement payment as of December was $1,658. Many older homeless people have much smaller checks because they worked fewer years or earned less than others.
People 65 and over with limited resources and who didn't work enough to earn retirement benefits may be eligible for Supplemental Security Income of $841 a month.
Finocchio said limited contributions were made for her into Social Security and Medicare because most of her jobs were off the books in telephone sales or watering office plants.
"The programs approved by Congress to prevent destitution among the elderly and the disabled are not working,” said Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor who led the 2019 study of the aging homeless in New York, Boston and Los Angeles County. “And the problem is only going to get worse.”
Jennifer Molinsky, project director for the Aging Society Program at Harvard University'sJoint Center for Housing Studies, agreed the federal government must do more to ensure older Americans are better housed.
“The younger boomers were hit especially hard in the Great Recession, many losing their homes close to retirement,” Molinsky said.
Longer term shelters specifically for older people are helping get some off the streets at least temporarily.
The Arizona Department of Housing last year provided a $7.5 million block grant for the state’s largest shelter to buy an old hotel to temporarily house up to 170 older people without a place to stay. The city of Phoenix kicked in $4 million for renovations.
CEO Lisa Glow of Central Arizona Shelter Services, which runs the state's biggest shelter in downtown Phoenix, said the hotel is expected to open by year’s end. Residents will stay around 90 days while caseworkers help find permanent housing
“We need more dignified, safer and comfortable places for our seniors,” said Glow, noting that physical limitations make it difficult for older people at the 500-bed shelter downtown.
Nestor Castro, 67, was luckier than many who lose permanent homes.
Castro was in his late 50s living in New York when his mother died and he was hospitalized with bleeding ulcers, losing their apartment. He initially stayed with his sister in Boston, then for more than three years at a YMCA in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Just before last Christmas, Castro got a permanent subsidized apartment through Hearth Inc., a Boston nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness among older adults. Residents pay 30% of their income to stay in one if Hearth's 228 units.
Castro pays with part of his Social Security check and a part-time job. He also volunteers at a food pantry and a nonprofit that assists people with housing.
“Housing is a big problem around here because they are building luxury apartments that no one can afford,” he said. “A place down the street is $3,068 a month for a studio.”
Hearth Inc. CEO Mark Hinderlie said far more housing needs to be built and made affordable for the aged, especially now as the numbers of graying homeless people surge.
“It’s cheaper to house people than leave them homeless," Hinderlie said. “You have to rethink what housing can be.”
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Janie Har in Marin County, California, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/americas-senior-homeless-population-is-growing-as-more-retire-on-streets/3639139/
| 2022-04-10T15:51:39
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A veteran New York state judge entangled in a law enforcement investigation whose property was raided by federal agents two weeks ago was found dead Tuesday morning in his home near Buffalo, his lawyer said.
John Michalski, an acting justice on the Erie County Supreme Court, died of an apparent suicide, according to attorney Terry Connors. Michalski was 61. Supreme Court is the state's highest trial court.
Police in Amherst, where Michalski lived, declined to comment.
Connors said he last spoke with Michalski on Saturday for a meeting that lasted several hours. He appeared "to be doing well. He was strong and was participating in the meeting," Connors added.
Read the full story at NBCNews.com.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/new-york-judge-whose-home-was-raided-by-investigators-is-found-dead/3639095/
| 2022-04-10T15:51:45
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After its striking post-invasion setbacks, Russia has appointed a new Ukraine war commander, a U.S. official said Sunday.
Russia has turned to Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia’s most experienced military officers and — according to U.S. officials — a general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theaters. The senior official who identified the new commander was not authorized to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity.
But the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said “no appointment of any general can erase the fact that Russia has already faced a strategic failure in Ukraine.”
“This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians,” Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And the United States, as I said before, is determined to do all that we can to support Ukrainians as they resist him and they resist the forces that he commands.”
The decision to establish new battlefield leadership comes as Russia gears up for what is expected to be a large and more focused push to expand Russian control in the Donbas and follows a failed opening bid to conquer Kyiv, the capital.
Dvornikov gained prominence while leading the Russian group of forces in Syria, where Moscow has waged a military campaign since 2015 to shore up President Bashar Assad’s regime during a devastating civil war.
Dvornikov is a career military officer and has steadily risen through the ranks after starting as a platoon commander in 1982. He fought during the second war in Chechnya and took several top positions before being placed in charge of the Russian troops in Syria in 2015.
In 2016, Putin awarded Dvornikov the Hero of Russia medal, one of the country’s highest awards. Dvornikov has served as the commander of the Southern Military District since 2016.
Sullivan described the general as having a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and said “we can expect more of the same in this theater." But he stressed that the U.S. strategy remains the same in providing Ukraine the military and logistical support it needs.
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| 2022-04-10T15:51:51
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The people of Australia have never stopped looking for the Beaumont children.
When Jane, 9, Arnna, 7, and Grant Jr., 4, disappeared without a trace on Jan. 26, 1966, it changed the whole tenor of a nation. Parents who didn't think twice about letting their kids go out to play unsupervised, or in the Beaumonts' case, hop on a bus for a five-minute ride to the local beach, were suddenly terrified.
And anyone who was around to absorb the shock of what happened never really got over it. Not least because no one ever found out what, exactly, happened. Though investigators have certainly had their theories and found certain people of interest more interesting than others, the case remains open to this day.
"After the Beaumont children went missing, we realized that children doing something as innocent as having a day at the beach may not be such a safe thing to do," crime writer Michael Madigan, author of the 2016 book The Missing Beaumont Children: 50 Years of Mystery and Misery, told Australian magazine New Idea in March 2021. "There was a sense of safety that ended that day."
It was the morning of Australia Day when Nancy Beaumont entrusted her reliably responsible eldest child, Jane ("She's got the brain of a girl of 15," her father later told reporters), with taking her younger siblings to nearby Glenelg Beach. Just the day before, they had made the short trip back from the beach to their home in the Adelaide suburb of Somerton Park on their own.
Grant "Jim" Beaumont had taken his brood to the beach on Jan. 25, making sure they understood how far out they could swim and reminding them not to talk to strangers before he headed off to work, according to Madigan's book.
The traveling linen salesman had to hit the road after four weeks of summer vacation, and his first stop after leaving the beach was Snowtown, about 93 miles away from Adelaide. "The last memory of his children was a happy one," Madigan wrote.
By all accounts of what happened on Jan. 26, Jane, her sister Arnna and brother Grant left the house at 10 a.m. and were first spotted on the beach at 10:15.
The trio were supposed to come back at 12 p.m., but when Nancy went to the bus stop to meet them, the kids weren't there. She wasn't too worried, though, figuring they just got caught up playing or decided to walk home. They lived less than a mile away from the beach.
The next bus was due at 2 p.m., so when 2:15 passed and the children still weren't back, Nancy started to worry. A friend who was over for a visit offered to drive her to the beach to look, but Nancy wanted to be home when the kids inevitably walked through the door.
Instead, Jim arrived just before 3 p.m., home a day early from his sales trip. So he drove to Glenelg Beach to look for Jane, Arrna and Grant Jr. Not spotting them in the crowd, he returned home, hoping they'd be there.
At 5 p.m., the Beaumonts walked to the Glenelg Police Station to report their children missing.
"I knew there was something wrong if they weren't home," Jim later recounted, per Madigan. "The thought going through my mind was that they had been taken away. I didn't think they could have been drowned because there were so many people down there."
What would eventually become one of the most haunting crimes in Australia's history started with a search of the Beaumonts' residence, police wanting to rule out that the children weren't hiding. That night, Jim rode in a patrol car as they scanned Somerton Park and Glenelg, street by street. And when the cops dropped him off, he got back in his own car and kept looking.
By morning, boats from the Sea Rescue Squadron had joined the search efforts, the airport and train stations were alerted and roadblocks were put up to monitor anyone driving in and out of the state of Adelaide. Police patrolled the streets with loud speakers so that everyone could hear them asking if anyone had seen the Beaumont children. Taxi drivers got the word out, Jim having been a former driver and therefore one of their own, and people of all ages, including members of Jane's Brownie troop, combed the area on foot.
And, naturally, reporters flocked to the family's house, and Jim addressed them mid-morning on Jan. 28 from his back porch. "Somebody must be holding them against their will, they would otherwise have come home by now," he said. "It's a complete mystery, I can't understand it. My kids will be crying their eyes out. It's like a nightmare."
Within 24 hours of the kids' disappearance, people were already inundating the Glenelg Police with tips and insistence that a solitary abandoned flipflop or towel had to be a clue. The bus driver on the beach route told police he remembered the children getting on his 10:10 a.m. bus on Jan. 26, but he couldn't recall them making a return trip.
Eventually it was determined that the three kids had gone to Wenzel's Bakery near the beach at around noon, and Jane bought pasties and a meat pie for their lunch. She paid with a 1 note that her mother knew she did not give her.
Their neighborhood postman, meanwhile, told authorities that he saw the kids that afternoon, "holding hands and laughing," while on his route--but he couldn't remember if it was at 1:45 p.m., when he got started, or 2:55 p.m., when he was finishing up.
The next morning, Jan. 27, the mailman told police he was pretty sure it was closer to 3 p.m.
"We had one phone for the main police station, that's all we had, and people were queuing up to give statements and what have you, and we only had a sergeant and four men there," Mostyn Matters, one of the original detectives on the case, recalled to Australia's ABC News in 2018. "They were just snowed under and by the time you interviewed people and [typed] up their reports and everything, it was just one of those things, where you could only do your best. We still had our own work going on, there were still crime being committed in Glenelg."
Amid the glut of ultimately unhelpful information, police heard from multiple witnesses who said they saw Jane, Arnna and Grant Jr. playing on the beach with a tall, thin-faced blonde man who looked to be in his 30s. They seemed to know him, or at least were willingly hanging out with him.
But that was that.
Weeks after her children vanished, Nancy told reporters, "I don't think they're alive, but I haven't lost hope, and all I want is that they come back."
A year after that, however, she had put more stock in hope.
"The longer this goes on, the more confident I feel that they are still alive," she said in a February 1967 interview, per Australia's Daily Telegraph. "Do you know, I dreamed about them last night. I don't usually dream. In fact this is the first real dream I've had since the children went. But last night I dreamed I heard a knock, on the back door. It was the children. They said, 'Hullo, Mum.'
"The only thing I said was, 'Where have you been?' They were standing there in the back lobby. I cried, and felt them all over. Do you know, it's the first dream I've had."
The Beaumont mystery would collide with another, however, on Aug. 25, 1973, when Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirste Gordon, 4, disappeared from a soccer match at the Adelaide Oval.
Joanne was there with her parents and Kirste was sitting next to them, with her grandmother. According to multiple news accounts of that day, Joanne volunteered to take Kirste to the bathroom and, since the game was in the middle of a play period--no going to the bathroom during the more crowded breaks was one of the Ratcliffes' rules--her parents said okay.
There was no issue. But when the two girls went again during the third quarter, they didn't return to their seats.
Witnesses recalled to police seeing the girls with a "skinny-faced man" who looked about 40, according to a 2020 examination of the Beaumont disappearance and possibly related cases by Australia's News.com.au.
Anthony Kilmartin, who was 13 when Joanne and Kirste disappeared, had been selling drinks and candy at the Oval. Per the 2020 report, he told police he saw a man pick up the younger child and start carrying her toward the stadium gates, while the older one ran after them. The man then grabbed the older girl's arm and pulled her along.
"The child was crying," Sue Laurie, who was 14 and had mistaken what she witnessed for a fraught parent-child moment, remembered to Adelaide radio station 5AA in 1998, "and a second girl who looked a few years younger than me was running after the man, thumping him and punching into him and shouting, 'We want to go back.'"
Also from News.co.au, the last reported sighting of the girls or their apparent abductor came from a man who said he drove past the trio less than two miles away from the stadium, about 90 minutes after the other sightings. Noticing that the older child seemed to be in distress, the motorist pulled over. He reconsidered though, and, deciding not to interfere, he drove away.
The sketch derived from all the witness accounts from the Adelaide Oval abductions boasted a startling resemblance to the suspect sketch from the disappearance of the Beaumont children seven years prior.
But both cases would only grow colder.
"No one could imagine the torment those parents went through," Madigan told New Idea of Nancy and Jim Beaumont, who separated in the early 1970s. Nancy died in September 2019 at the age of 92. Jim, 96, was still living in Adelaide as of last year.
And reminiscent of other cases, such as that of 3-year-old Madeleine McCann, who went missing in 2007 from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal while her parents were out eating dinner about 400 feet away, people were keen to sit in judgment of the mother's parenting choices--or flat-out accuse her of harming her children.
"People would come up to her on the street and openly abuse her," Madigan said, "believing Nancy had something to do with it. It would have been all so traumatic for them."
In 1968, Nancy and Jim received two letters, the first telling them when and where to go if they wanted to get their children back. In the second, after the parents went to the designated place and nothing happened, the sender claimed to have seen a detective following them and decided not to go through with it.
Countless theories were put forth over the years, including one by Dutch psychic Gerard Croiset, who claimed to have had a vision of the children's fate, and was flown to Australia in November 1966 by a deep-pocketed real estate developer. According to Croiset, the children had been trapped under the floor of an old brick factory that was being used as a warehouse.
With no evidence other than the psychic's claims, authorities refused to get involved. But concerned citizens raised $40,000 to get the job done and an excavation under the watchful eye of television cameras began in 1967--and found nothing.
In 1986, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, three suitcases full of newspaper clippings about the Beaumont case were found in a garbage dump, most of the pages scribbled with handwritten notes in red ink. Across an image of the widely circulated sketch of the suspect was written, "Lies--all bluff."
Only a day later, however, people who identified themselves as relatives of the elderly owner of those suitcases told police that she had simply become obsessed with the case, and after she died they threw the bags out.
Numerous alleged sightings of the kids poured in over the years, from a woman in Perth who insisted she was living next door to the children in 1966 to a former detective on the case who became convinced in 1997 that Jane Beaumont was alive and well and living in Canberrra. (Investigators confirmed it was not her.)
In November 2013, more than 46 years after a psychic sent the citizenry on a wild goose chase, part of the New Castalloy factory in the Adelaide suburb of North Plympton was excavated after two brothers alleged that the building's late owner, Harry Phipps, had them dig a pit on the property on Australia Day in 1966.
Phipps died in 2004 but was posthumously investigated starting in 2007 after his son Haydn, who also told police his father sexually abused him, claimed he saw his dad with the Beaumont children. Other family members disputed Haydn's claims.
However, geophysical testing of the grounds spearheaded by Channel 7 turned up a small anomaly in the soil that indicated a hole may have once been dug at the site. Authorities started digging again on Feb. 1, 2018, but found nothing but animal bones and unremarkable rubbish.
"I can confirm that we have searched the areas of interest and reached the bottom of those areas and gone well below so that we can be 100 per cent certain," South Australia Police Detective Superintendent Des Bray, per the Sydney Morning Herald, confirming the presence of non-human remains. "Sadly this means for the Beaumont family that we still have no answers. But we will always do anything humanly possible to locate the Beaumont children and take them home to their family."
Stuart Mullins, co-author of a 2013 book about the case, The Satin Man, felt strongly that Phipps could be the culprit, telling ABC News in 2018, "It's my belief that they're in the pit on that site, but where--who knows?" But, he added, "It's trying to find a needle in a haystack. There is a cost involved, there is manpower involved. It's a huge site--where do they start?"
Still, he was optimistic that the case could still be solved. "It's for the police now," he said. "I feel very confident and very inspired."
A couple weeks after the second dig at his late father's factory turned up no evidence, Harry's younger son, Wayne Phipps, told Australia's Sunday Mail that his older brother, Hadyn, who died in 2016, had been mentally ill and their dad had nothing to do with the half-century-old crime.
"It's hurting those who I care about and the memory of those who I cared about," Wayne said of the speculation that his father hurt the Beaumont children. "We loved Harry and believe in his innocence."
In the 56 years since Jane, Arnna and Grant Jr. disappeared, no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with the Beaumont case. A week before they dug up Phipps' factory for a second time, Detective Superintendent Bray said, "It's probably had more people nominated as a potential offender than any other case that I'm aware of."
The South Australian Government has kept what currently amounts to a $745,000 reward ($1 million Australian) on the table for information leading to the resolution of the enduring mystery.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/why-the-unsolved-disappearance-of-the-beaumont-children-remains-one-of-australias-most-haunting-crimes/3639125/
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Scheffler chases Masters win, with caddie who knows the way
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler has never been here before. Never gone to any course with the lead on Sunday in a major championship. Been close a few times, but never in the spotlight as the favorite heading into the final round.
It’s daunting, anywhere.
At Augusta National, even more so.
Luckily for him, someone will be with Scheffler every step of the way, someone who has taken a few rides around the pressure cooker that is a final round with a Masters win at stake. He hired Ted Scott, who caddied in both of Bubba Watson’s Masters wins, on a test basis five months ago. It has paid huge and fast dividends, and they’ll try for their fourth win in the span of six starts together on Sunday.
“Teddy’s been a great addition to the team,” Scheffler said. “I have a lot of faith in him. He works really hard. I respect him as a person. When we’re out there I have a lot of faith in him. It’s really nice just having someone I can trust so much out there with me.”
Watson had to rally to win his first Masters in 2012, after starting the final round in fourth. In 2014, he held the lead coming into the final round and held it together on the way to another green jacket. He and Scott were peanut butter-and-jelly level of inseparable for 15 years, before deciding to part ways last season. Scheffler heard Scott was available and gave him a call. Scheffler was hovering around the mid-20s in the world rankings then. He’s No. 1 in the world now and in position to win the Masters.
“It’s going to give him confidence,” Watson said of Scheffler having Scott with him on Sunday. “Knowing that he’s got a guy on the bag that’s won around here, that has notes ... he’s going to have mental notes that he knows (from what) he’s been through with me. So, yeah, it’s going to give him nothing but confidence and joy knowing that he has all the information.”
Cameron Smith is Scheffler’s closest pursuer, starting Sunday three shots back after a 4-under round of 68 in Round 3. At Augusta, three shots is nothing. And Smith has experience in being a chaser, after he and Sungjae Im — who is in third, five shots back — were the ones closest to Dustin Johnson at the end of the pandemic-delayed Masters in November 2020.
Scheffler has won three of his last five starts on the way to the No. 1 ranking. Smith is coming off a win at The Players Championship last month and is No. 6 in the world. It might not have Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson level of pizzazz to it, but a Scheffler-Smith pairing in the final round of a major — given the form both are in right now — is probably pretty close to the best matchup that golf purists could have gotten.
“It just means I can get it done I guess when I’m up against the best guys in the world,” Smith said. “It’s a good feeling to have. It’s earned. It’s not given to you. I’m going to have to go out there (Sunday) and play really good golf again. Hopefully everything just falls into place. I can’t control what anyone else is going to do.”
Most players think that way.
But a good caddie like Scott does have a say in what someone else is going to do — that being the player whose bag he is carrying. He’ll wear the standard-issue Masters white caddie jumpsuit on Sunday while also serving as coach, confidant, psychologist, therapist and whatever else Scheffler needs for those four-plus hours that the final round will take.
“Someone that stays as pretty level-headed as Teddy, he doesn’t really react to much,” Scheffler said. “It’s definitely nice having him out there on the bag.”
Shane Lowry and Charl Schwartzel will start Sunday tied for fourth, seven shots off the pace at 2 under. Justin Thomas and Corey Conners are tied for sixth, both 1 under. Those four players, Scheffler, Smith and Im are the only ones under par going into the final round.
A year ago on Masters Sunday, Hideki Matsuyama’s caddie wound up stealing a bit of the show. Shota Hayafuji was on Matsuyama’s bag for that win, and when he returned the pin to the 18th hole after the final putt of the Masters was made, he removed his cap and bowed to the course. It instantly became a Masters moment.
There’s a caddie who will get to make a Masters moment of his own on Sunday. Scheffler would enjoy nothing more than if Scott is the one on that stage.
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More AP Masters coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/the-masters
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-04-10T16:03:37
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https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/10/scheffler-chases-masters-win-with-caddie-who-knows-way/
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US official: Russia appoints new Ukraine war commander
WASHINGTON (AP) — After its striking post-invasion setbacks, Russia has appointed a new Ukraine war commander, a U.S. official said Sunday.
Russia has turned to Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia’s most experienced military officers and — according to U.S. officials — a general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theaters. The senior official who identified the new commander was not authorized to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity.
But the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said “no appointment of any general can erase the fact that Russia has already faced a strategic failure in Ukraine.”
“This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians,” Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And the United States, as I said before, is determined to do all that we can to support Ukrainians as they resist him and they resist the forces that he commands.”
WARNING: Videos may contain graphic content.
The decision to establish new battlefield leadership comes as Russia gears up for what is expected to be a large and more focused push to expand Russian control in the Donbas and follows a failed opening bid to conquer Kyiv, the capital.
Dvornikov gained prominence while leading the Russian group of forces in Syria, where Moscow has waged a military campaign since 2015 to shore up President Bashar Assad’s regime during a devastating civil war.
Dvornikov is a career military officer and has steadily risen through the ranks after starting as a platoon commander in 1982. He fought during the second war in Chechnya and took several top positions before being placed in charge of the Russian troops in Syria in 2015.
In 2016, Putin awarded Dvornikov the Hero of Russia medal, one of the country’s highest awards. Dvornikov has served as the commander of the Southern Military District since 2016.
Sullivan described the general as having a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and said “we can expect more of the same in this theater.” But he stressed that the U.S. strategy remains the same in providing Ukraine the military and logistical support it needs.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wflx.com/2022/04/10/us-official-russia-appoints-new-ukraine-war-commander/
| 2022-04-10T16:03:43
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Man allegedly shoots, kills wife in Buena Vista homicide
BUENA VISTA, Mich. (WNEM) - A man is in custody following a shooting in Buena Vista on Saturday. The victim and suspect were married.
Police say that 32-year-old Margaret Welch was fatally shot at 1756 Prospect Street. Another victim, a 22-year-old man, also suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound.
The suspect, 41-year-old Deandre Welch was apprehended after a pursuit from Saginaw to Genesee County. He was later taken to a local hospital to be treated for minor wounds suffered from a K9 officer and unrelated medical conditions.
The Buena Vista Police Department say there are no outstanding suspects.
Bridgeport Township Police, Saginaw City Police, State Police, the MSP Crime Lab Bridgeport, Flint City Police, Flint Township Police, Mt. Morris Township Police, Vienna Township Police, Clio City Police, Genesee County Dispatch and the Genesee County Sheriff assisted in the apprehension of the suspect.
Copyright 2022 WNEM. All rights reserved.
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https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/10/man-allegedly-shoots-kills-wife-buena-vista-homicide/
| 2022-04-10T16:12:06
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https://www.wnem.com/2022/04/10/man-allegedly-shoots-kills-wife-buena-vista-homicide/
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Scheffler chases Masters win, with caddie who knows the way
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler has never been here before. Never gone to any course with the lead on Sunday in a major championship. Been close a few times, but never in the spotlight as the favorite heading into the final round.
It’s daunting, anywhere.
At Augusta National, even more so.
Luckily for him, someone will be with Scheffler every step of the way, someone who has taken a few rides around the pressure cooker that is a final round with a Masters win at stake. He hired Ted Scott, who caddied in both of Bubba Watson’s Masters wins, on a test basis five months ago. It has paid huge and fast dividends, and they’ll try for their fourth win in the span of six starts together on Sunday.
“Teddy’s been a great addition to the team,” Scheffler said. “I have a lot of faith in him. He works really hard. I respect him as a person. When we’re out there I have a lot of faith in him. It’s really nice just having someone I can trust so much out there with me.”
Watson had to rally to win his first Masters in 2012, after starting the final round in fourth. In 2014, he held the lead coming into the final round and held it together on the way to another green jacket. He and Scott were peanut butter-and-jelly level of inseparable for 15 years, before deciding to part ways last season. Scheffler heard Scott was available and gave him a call. Scheffler was hovering around the mid-20s in the world rankings then. He’s No. 1 in the world now and in position to win the Masters.
“It’s going to give him confidence,” Watson said of Scheffler having Scott with him on Sunday. “Knowing that he’s got a guy on the bag that’s won around here, that has notes ... he’s going to have mental notes that he knows (from what) he’s been through with me. So, yeah, it’s going to give him nothing but confidence and joy knowing that he has all the information.”
Cameron Smith is Scheffler’s closest pursuer, starting Sunday three shots back after a 4-under round of 68 in Round 3. At Augusta, three shots is nothing. And Smith has experience in being a chaser, after he and Sungjae Im — who is in third, five shots back — were the ones closest to Dustin Johnson at the end of the pandemic-delayed Masters in November 2020.
Scheffler has won three of his last five starts on the way to the No. 1 ranking. Smith is coming off a win at The Players Championship last month and is No. 6 in the world. It might not have Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson level of pizzazz to it, but a Scheffler-Smith pairing in the final round of a major — given the form both are in right now — is probably pretty close to the best matchup that golf purists could have gotten.
“It just means I can get it done I guess when I’m up against the best guys in the world,” Smith said. “It’s a good feeling to have. It’s earned. It’s not given to you. I’m going to have to go out there (Sunday) and play really good golf again. Hopefully everything just falls into place. I can’t control what anyone else is going to do.”
Most players think that way.
But a good caddie like Scott does have a say in what someone else is going to do — that being the player whose bag he is carrying. He’ll wear the standard-issue Masters white caddie jumpsuit on Sunday while also serving as coach, confidant, psychologist, therapist and whatever else Scheffler needs for those four-plus hours that the final round will take.
“Someone that stays as pretty level-headed as Teddy, he doesn’t really react to much,” Scheffler said. “It’s definitely nice having him out there on the bag.”
Shane Lowry and Charl Schwartzel will start Sunday tied for fourth, seven shots off the pace at 2 under. Justin Thomas and Corey Conners are tied for sixth, both 1 under. Those four players, Scheffler, Smith and Im are the only ones under par going into the final round.
A year ago on Masters Sunday, Hideki Matsuyama’s caddie wound up stealing a bit of the show. Shota Hayafuji was on Matsuyama’s bag for that win, and when he returned the pin to the 18th hole after the final putt of the Masters was made, he removed his cap and bowed to the course. It instantly became a Masters moment.
There’s a caddie who will get to make a Masters moment of his own on Sunday. Scheffler would enjoy nothing more than if Scott is the one on that stage.
___
More AP Masters coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/the-masters
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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US official: Russia appoints new Ukraine war commander
WASHINGTON (AP) — After its striking post-invasion setbacks, Russia has appointed a new Ukraine war commander, a U.S. official said Sunday.
Russia has turned to Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, one of Russia’s most experienced military officers and — according to U.S. officials — a general with a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other war theaters. The senior official who identified the new commander was not authorized to be identified and spoke on condition of anonymity.
But the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said “no appointment of any general can erase the fact that Russia has already faced a strategic failure in Ukraine.”
“This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians,” Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And the United States, as I said before, is determined to do all that we can to support Ukrainians as they resist him and they resist the forces that he commands.”
WARNING: Videos may contain graphic content.
The decision to establish new battlefield leadership comes as Russia gears up for what is expected to be a large and more focused push to expand Russian control in the Donbas and follows a failed opening bid to conquer Kyiv, the capital.
Dvornikov gained prominence while leading the Russian group of forces in Syria, where Moscow has waged a military campaign since 2015 to shore up President Bashar Assad’s regime during a devastating civil war.
Dvornikov is a career military officer and has steadily risen through the ranks after starting as a platoon commander in 1982. He fought during the second war in Chechnya and took several top positions before being placed in charge of the Russian troops in Syria in 2015.
In 2016, Putin awarded Dvornikov the Hero of Russia medal, one of the country’s highest awards. Dvornikov has served as the commander of the Southern Military District since 2016.
Sullivan described the general as having a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and said “we can expect more of the same in this theater.” But he stressed that the U.S. strategy remains the same in providing Ukraine the military and logistical support it needs.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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10-year-old boy called a hero after saving family from burning home
OXFORD, Miss. (WHBQ) - A 10-year-old Mississippi boy is being called a hero for helping save his family from a house fire.
According to the Lafayette County Fire Department, Bailey Doyle remained calm, cool, and collected and did exactly what he should have done.
“It’s something that you love seeing. That’s the reason we go into the communities and do what we do in the schools. We teach these things and love to see them implemented in situations like this,” said Casey Henderson, with the Lafayette County Fire Department.
As soon as he saw smoke, Bailey said he knew what to do and alerted his grandparents, who were visiting, to get out.
“I just thought as soon as I saw the smoke. OK, get my parents and go,” Bailey said. “I guess it was the firefighters coming to my school. They were the ones who taught me to wake up my parents and all that.”
His grandfather, Joe, said Bailey went off before the smoke detectors, buying them extra time.
“We are just happy that Bailey had the sense not to wait around to get the family up. He went right into action,” grandpa Joe said.
Bailey said many people have been making a big deal out of what he did, but he’s just thankful he was in the right place at the right time.
“A lot of people have been saying I am the hero. I am just glad everyone was able to get out of the house,” Bailey said.
Copyright 2022 WHBQ via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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2nd time the charm? Jennifer Lopez announces engagement to Ben Affleck
Published: Apr. 9, 2022 at 1:43 PM EDT|Updated: 22 hours ago
(Gray News) - Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are engaged for a second time.
The actress made the announcement in her newsletter Friday night along with a video post on Twitter.
“So I have a really exciting and special story to share,” Lopez said in the video. “It is my inner circle where I share my more personal things and this one’s definitely on the JLo.”
According to People, Lopez’s message included a clip of her admiring a large, green diamond on a silver band on her ring finger. The image was also shared by her sister on social media.
Lopez and Affleck reportedly called off a previous engagement back in 2004.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Justice Dept.: 4 men indicted for fentanyl conspiracy, overdose death
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Gray News) - Four Missouri men have been indicted for their role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, which resulted in an overdose death, according to the Justice Department.
Dmitry Cattell, 22, Joseph Burgess, 21, Jordon Simmer, 20, and Kelton Hill, 22, were charged in a nine-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury on Tuesday.
The Justice Department reports the indictment was unsealed and made public following the arrests of all four defendants on Thursday. They remain in federal custody pending a detention hearing on April 12.
The federal indictment alleges that all four defendants have participated in a conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl since Sept. 12, 2019.
In addition to the drug-trafficking conspiracy, the indictment charges Cattell and Simmer with aiding and abetting each other to distribute fentanyl. The use of which caused the death of another person on May 18, 2020. The victim of the fatal overdose was not identified in court documents.
The Justice Department reports Cattell was also charged with two counts of distributing fentanyl, one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and one count of being an unlawful drug user in possession of a gun. Cattell allegedly was in possession of a Taurus handgun on Nov. 10, 2020.
Simmer, Burgess, and Hill each were also charged with one count of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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The AP Interview: Zelenskyy seeks peace despite atrocities
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that he is committed to pressing for peace despite Russian attacks on civilians that have stunned the world, and he renewed his plea for more weapons ahead of an expected surge in fighting in the country’s east.
He made the comments in an interview with The Associated Press a day after at least 52 people were killed in a strike on a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, and as evidence of civilian killings came to light after Russian troops failed to seize the capital where he has hunkered down, Kyiv.
“No one wants to negotiate with a person or people who tortured this nation. It’s all understandable. And as a man, as a father, I understand this very well,” Zelenskyy said. But “we don’t want to lose opportunities, if we have them, for a diplomatic solution.”
WARNING: Videos may contain graphic content.
Wearing the olive drab that has marked his transformation into a wartime leader, he looked visibly exhausted yet animated by a drive to persevere. He spoke to the AP inside the presidential office complex, where windows and hallways are protected by towers of sandbags and heavily armed soldiers.
“We have to fight, but fight for life. You can’t fight for dust when there is nothing and no people. That’s why it is important to stop this war,” Zelenskyy said.
Russian troops that withdrew from northern Ukraine are now regrouping for what is expected to be an intensified push to retake the eastern Donbas region, including the besieged port city of Mariupol that Ukrainian fighters are striving to defend.
The president said those defenders are tying up “a big part of the enemy forces,” characterizing the battle to hold Mariupol as “the heart of the war” right now.
“It’s beating. We’re fighting. We’re strong. And if it stops beating, we will be in a weaker position,” he said.
Zelenskyy said he is confident Ukrainians would accept peace despite the horrors they have witnessed in the more than six-week-long war.
Those included gruesome images of bodies of civilians found in yards, parks and city squares and buried in mass graves in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha after Russian troops withdrew. Ukrainian and Western leaders have accused Moscow of war crimes.
Russia has falsely claimed that the scenes in Bucha were staged. It also put the blame on Ukraine for the attack on the train station in Kramatorsk as thousands of people rushed to flee ahead of an expected Russian offensive.
Despite hopes for peace, Zelenskyy acknowledged that he must be “realistic” about the prospects for a swift resolution given that negotiations have so far been limited to low-level talks that do not include Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy displayed a palpable sense of resignation and frustration when asked whether the supplies of weapons and other equipment his country has received from the United States and other Western nations were enough to turn the tide of the war.
“Not yet,” he said, switching to English for emphasis. “Of course it’s not enough.”
Still, he noted that there has been increased support from Europe and said deliveries of U.S. weapons have been accelerating.
Just this week, neighboring Slovakia, a European Union member, donated its Soviet-era S-300 air defense system to Ukraine in response to Zelenskyy’s appeal to help “close the skies” to Russian warplanes and missiles.
Some of that support has come through visits by European leaders.
After meeting Zelenskyy in Kyiv earlier Saturday, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he expects more EU sanctions against Russia even as he defended his country’s opposition to cutting off deliveries of Russian natural gas.
The U.S., EU and United Kingdom responded to the images from Bucha with more sanctions, including ones targeting Putin’s adult daughters. While the EU went after the Russian energy sector for the first time by banning coal, it has so far failed to agree on cutting off the much more lucrative oil and natural gas that is funding Putin’s war chest. Europe relies on those supplies to generate electricity, fill fuel tanks and keep industry churning.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also made an unannounced visit to meet Zelenskyy, with his office saying they discussed Britain’s “long-term support.”
In Kyiv on Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented Ukraine’s leader with a questionnaire marking the first step for applying for EU membership. The head of the bloc’s executive arm said the process for completing the questionnaire could take weeks — an unusually fast turnaround — though securing membership would take far longer.
Zelenskyy turned introspective when asked what impact the pace of arms deliveries had for his people and whether more lives could have been saved if the help had come sooner.
“Very often we look for answers in someone else, but I often look for answers in myself. Did we do enough to get them?” he said of the weapons. “Did we do enough for these leaders to believe in us? Did we do enough?”
He paused and shook his head.
“Are we the best for this place and this time? Who knows? I don’t know. You question yourself,” he said.
___
AP photographer Evgeniy Maloletka contributed to this story.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Baby formula shortage worsens, may take weeks to improve
(CNN) - A baby formula shortage in many parts of the United States is forcing retailers to ration their supplies.
Walgreens is limiting shoppers to three infant and toddler formula products per transaction.
A recent review of supplies at 11,000 stores indicates that nearly 30% of popular baby formula brands may be sold out.
Cities like San Antonio and Minneapolis are reporting out-of-stock rates for certain formulas even higher than that, well above 50%.
Part of the problem stems from an Abbott Nutrition recall in mid-February for select lots of Similac and other formulas made in Sturgis, Michigan.
Manufacturers are ramping up production to make up the difference, but they admit it may take weeks for them to catch up.
Copyright 2022 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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| 2022-04-10T16:23:02
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Couple charged with child endangerment after police find ‘bags of feces’ inside home
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. (KFVS/Gray News) - A Missouri couple was arrested after police discovered unsafe, unsanitary living conditions inside their home with their five children.
KFVS reports the Poplar Bluff Police Department was called to a home to follow up on information about drug activity at a residence.
Responding officers reported they noticed numerous trash bags that were full on the side and in front of the home. Trash was also scattered everywhere in the front yard and driveway.
Officers said they smelled an odor of bad personal hygiene and an extremely foul odor coming from the residence.
According to the PBPD, Aaron and Teyrsa Medley lived at the home with their five children from ages 1 to 9 years old. And the couple granted officers to enter their home.
Officers said they were immediately hit with what was described as a “pungent odor that made their stomachs churn” when entering the home.
Each room was covered with loose trash and large bags of trash, animal/human feces, urine and dirt.
A dark, hard substance coated the flooring and piles of dirty clothing, trash, used toilet paper and diapers covered the bathroom flooring, according to police.
Police Chief Danny Whiteley responded to the scene and said he had been inside hundreds of residences with the same foul odor. Those houses consisted of unsanitary, unhealthy and unsafe living conditions.
According to police, the inside of the refrigerator and freezer had several spills of unknown liquids and food with numerous dead roaches inside of them. A cooking dish had dead maggot larvae under the glass lid. Dozens of flies were present flying around.
With the assistance of the Butler County Juvenile Office, Butler County Children’s Division and Butler County Social Services, the five children were removed from the residence.
Police said Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kacey Proctor also responded to the home to examine it first-hand.
The couple was arrested for endangering the welfare of a child and booked into the Butler County Justice Center.
Copyright 2022 KFVS via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Father of 4 young kids shot, killed in argument at gas station; gunman remains on loose
PHOENIX (KPHO/KTVK/Gray News) - A family in Arizona is trying to put the pieces of their life back together after losing a loved one in a deadly shooting at a gas station.
Rene Sanchez lost his life last weekend after getting into an argument with another man while at a QuikTrip convenience store in Phoenix. Rene Sanchez was shot while he was walking away, his bother told Arizona’s Family.
Eddie Sanchez, Rene Sanchez’s brother, said the shooting took place in the afternoon, and the family remains heartbroken and wants justice. Rene Sanchez was also a father of four young children.
“We are missing that piece of the puzzle, and that is Rene,” Eddie Sanchez said. “It makes me sad that people like that don’t care about human life and people’s family it affects.”
The Phoenix Police Department released a picture and video from that afternoon’s shooting that showed an unidentified man leaving the scene on a bicycle. However, no arrests were immediately reported.
“To tell them [Rene’s kids] their dad won’t come home. To tell them he was murdered at a gas station. It’s just frustrating not to see him and know we won’t see him again,” Eddie Sanchez said.
Rene Sanchez was an electrician with the goal of starting his own business, according to his brother. But currently, the family is just waiting on updates on the case and wanting answers.
“It’ll be a big load off of our shoulders to find this person,” Eddie Sanchez said. “He will get caught eventually and pay for what he did.”
Eddie Sanchez said people will remember his brother, and the family has created a GoFundMe to help raise money for funeral expenses and the four kids and wife Rene Sanchez leaves behind.
Phoenix police urged those with any further information to contact authorities. There is a $2,000 reward.
Copyright 2022 KPHO/KTVK Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Feds accused of ignoring asbestos, mold at women’s prison
WASHINGTON (AP) — A government watchdog has found a “substantial likelihood” the federal Bureau of Prisons committed wrongdoing when it ignored complaints and failed to address asbestos and mold contamination at a federal women’s prison in California that has already been under scrutiny for rampant sexual abuse of inmates.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel now wants Attorney General Merrick Garland to step in to investigate the allegations after multiple whistleblower complaints were filed earlier this year. The office detailed its findings in a letter this past week and has asked Garland to submit a report within 60 days.
The whistleblower complaints, filed by union officials at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, alleged that senior Bureau of Prisons officials had failed to act to resolve the allegations of workplace contamination. The union had repeatedly complained that correctional officers and other prison workers and inmates were being exposed to potentially hazardous mold and asbestos but says those concerns were ignored.
“Management’s failure to address unsafe and dangerous working conditions at FCI Dublin has put the health and safety of both employees and inmates at considerable risk,” Dublin union president Edward Canales said. “We look forward to the outcome of this investigation, which we hope will result in the unsafe conditions being remedied and appropriate disciplinary actions being taken against the managers who failed to act.”
The Justice Department has already been investigating serious misconduct at Dublin, where five employees — including the former warden — have been charged with sexually abusing inmates. An Associated Press investigation this year revealed a pattern of sexual misconduct and detailed a toxic culture that enabled it to continue for years.
After the AP’s investigation was published, whistleblowers at the prison said they were being attacked for speaking up. The Bureau of Prisons launched a task force of 18 senior executives who visited the prison in March to assess the conditions there and work to reform the facility. The agency’s director, Michael Carvajal, also visited the prison.
The Justice Department said Saturday it had received the letter and “appreciates OSC’s responsiveness to these concerns.” It said the Bureau of Prisons was “addressing concerns raised by staff at Dublin and working to ensure that all facilities are operating under safe, healthy conditions.”
In a statement, the Bureau of Prisons said its staff members perform weekly fire, safety and sanitation inspections and staff members are encouraged to report unsafe or unhealth conditions to their supervisors. It said anyone who believes that such a condition exists could report it to the warden, other prison system officials or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“All safety concerns reported by staff at Dublin are being addressed,” Bureau of Prisons spokesman Emery Nelson said in a statement.
The Office of Special Counsel said that while it found “a substantial likelihood of wrongdoing” based on the complaint that was filed, the referral to Garland does not constitute its final determination. The case remains open until the agency submits its final report, which is then forwarded to President Joe Biden and Congress.
___
Sisak reported from New York. On Twitter, follow Balsamo at twitter.com/mikebalsamo1 and Sisak at twitter.com/mikesisak and send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Funeral services held for Tyre Sampson, teen killed on free-fall ride in Orlando
ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - Funeral services were held Saturday in St. Louis for a 14-year-old teenager who died last month at an Orlando theme park.
Tyre Sampson fell to his death from a free-fall ride at Icon Park.
The investigation into his cause of death continues, and on Saturday, it was time for his friends and family to lay him to rest as hundreds attended the services for Tyre.
“There’s a lot of love here. There’s a lot of support. It’s terrible; it’s a tragedy. It’s something no mother should ever have to go through,” said family friend Kelly Southhall.
According to his family, Tyre was 6-foot-4 and 325 pounds and on the path to greatness on the football field.
Reggie Rice, Tyre’s cousin, says he will always carry his younger cousin in his heart.
“He asked me every time we played football, ‘what do you want to do when I get older or who did I want to be like when I get old.’ I was like, I don’t know, ‘who do you want to be like?’ And he told me, ‘nobody, I’m going to be myself,’” Rice said.
Tyre’s friends and family said bigger than his physique was his larger-than-life personality.
“I would always tease him about the size of his shoes, and he would joke it off and laugh it off. I was like, ‘what size is your shoe?’ He would say 17 with a lot of pride,” Tyre’s former teacher Vida Weekly said.
Weekly also said Tyre was growing into a great young man and leader as he helped younger students at City Garden Montessori School.
She hopes his loss helps others heal and grow.
“I pray that somebody in this situation learns from this,” Weekly said.
Family lawyer and prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump has called Tyre’s death “completely preventable.”
The teen’s death was captured on video, which Crump called the worst he has ever seen, except for the torture death of George Floyd.
The Orlando ride was billed as the tallest free-standing drop tower on earth, and it remains closed as investigators continue to figure out what exactly happened.
Copyright 2022 KSDK via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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